Stifel Financial Corp Sells 13,158 Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its holdings in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,158 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Vital Energy were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VTLE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,227,000 after buying an additional 282,574 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,507,000 after acquiring an additional 35,133 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,795,000 after purchasing an additional 90,523 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 22.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 311,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,369,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares in the company, valued at $879,130.02. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VTLE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $28.39 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. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.85 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.73 and a 200-day moving average of $34.95. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 3.19.

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

Vital Energy 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.