Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $788,000 in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 25,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Vital Energy by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Vital Energy by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP grew its stake in Vital Energy by 5.1% in the third quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 13,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Vital Energy by 6.4% in 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. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vital Energy by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE VTLE opened at $22.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.64. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.85 and a 12 month high of $58.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $844.19 million, a PE ratio of -4.66 and a beta of 3.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $534.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.90 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. On average, analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $117,601.29. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 46,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,141.49. This represents a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $207,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,335.88. The trade was a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,647 shares of company stock valued at $448,742 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTLE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $27.00 price target on Vital Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $32.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.46.

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.