Wolfe Research Upgrades Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) to “Peer Perform”

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Vital Energy Stock Up 2.7 %

VTLE stock opened at $31.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 3.19. Vital Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $459.23 million during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vital Energy will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In related news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,538.76. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock worth $502,017 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 127,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Vital Energy by 6.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vital Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vital Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,031,000 after buying an additional 17,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,110,000 after buying an additional 187,503 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.