Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price Down 5% – Time to Sell?

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) fell 5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $33.46 and last traded at $34.14. 163,290 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 774,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VTLE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.82 and a 200-day moving average of $33.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 3.16. 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 (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vital Energy during the third quarter worth $7,945,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after purchasing an additional 282,574 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,214,000 after purchasing an additional 220,871 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Vital Energy by 124.0% during the third 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, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Vital Energy by 29.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,795,000 after buying an additional 90,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

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.