Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Trading 3.2% Higher

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)’s stock price shot up 3.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.64 and last traded at $28.48. 167,175 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 902,889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VTLE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $41.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vital Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Vital Energy in a research report on Friday, June 14th. KeyCorp lowered Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.91.

Vital Energy Trading Up 8.3 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 3.17.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.42). Vital Energy had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $476.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Energy news, CEO M. Jason Pigott purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $37.85 per share, for a total transaction of $94,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,411,373.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 800.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,248 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after purchasing an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,443,000. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,619,000. Institutional investors 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.