Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $30.08, but opened at $29.23. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy shares last traded at $28.71, with a volume of 62,554 shares.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. upped 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. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 481,248 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vital Energy during the third quarter valued at $7,945,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,443,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Trading Down 4.8 %

The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 3.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.12.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

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.