ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires New Position in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 6,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Vital Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Vital Energy by 247.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Vital Energy by 2,590.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Vital Energy by 234.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Vital Energy by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Stock Down 3.5 %

VTLE stock opened at $34.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.90 and a 200 day moving average of $33.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 2.43 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.85 and a 52 week high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.58 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Vital Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

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.