Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Down 4.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)’s share price was down 4.5% on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $37.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy traded as low as $30.07 and last traded at $30.07. Approximately 230,835 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 895,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.49.

VTLE has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In related news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,306.64. This trade represents a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VTLE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 800.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,248 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,945,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 282,574 shares during the period. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $10,443,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Stock Down 4.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 3.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.