Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target Lowered to $48.00 at Truist Financial

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $66.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 75.57% from the stock’s previous close.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vital Energy in a report on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Vital Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Vital Energy from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.82.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $27.34. 586,896 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 898,776. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.13. Vital Energy has a 52-week low of $25.94 and a 52-week high of $58.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 3.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.42). The firm had revenue of $476.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.76 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Vital Energy will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, CEO M. Jason Pigott purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $37.85 per share, with a total value of $94,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,411,373.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $239,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the second quarter valued at about $459,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Vital Energy by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

About Vital Energy

Vital Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the United States. The company was formerly known as Laredo Petroleum, Inc and changed its name to Vital Energy, Inc in January 2023.