Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target Lowered to $34.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on VTLE. Mizuho lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

Vital Energy Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Vital Energy stock opened at $29.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. Vital Energy has a 52-week low of $25.85 and a 52-week high of $58.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 3.19.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

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

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,250,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 145,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after purchasing an additional 71,385 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,227,000 after purchasing an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 52.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 22,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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. 86.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vital Energy Company Profile

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.