Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.83.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $41.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Vital Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Vital Energy stock opened at $27.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 3.16. Vital Energy has a one year low of $25.85 and a one year high of $58.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.50.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.42). Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business had revenue of $476.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,130.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,130.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $285,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,306.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 400.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 100.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 2,590.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 234.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Vital Energy during the second quarter worth about $147,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.