Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,271 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vital Energy were worth $3,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,945,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Vital Energy in the second quarter valued at $10,443,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. 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 report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.09.

Vital Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VTLE opened at $32.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 3.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.63. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.85 and a 1-year high of $58.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $879,130.02. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $285,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% 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.