Analysts Set Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target at $47.09

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.09.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VTLE shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VTLE opened at $32.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Vital Energy has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $58.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 3.16.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.15. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $459.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 6.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,538.76. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $285,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,031,000 after acquiring an additional 17,782 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,110,000 after purchasing an additional 187,503 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Vital Energy by 77.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 137,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 59,942 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

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.