Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $36.00 to $24.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VTLE. Citigroup cut Vital Energy to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $32.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded shares of Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.54.

Vital Energy Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of VTLE opened at $22.11 on Tuesday. Vital Energy has a fifty-two week low of $19.85 and a fifty-two week high of $58.30. The firm has a market cap of $842.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.65 and a beta of 3.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.27. Vital Energy had a negative net margin of 8.89% and a positive return on equity of 9.48%. The business had revenue of $534.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $117,601.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,141.49. This represents a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $207,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,335.88. This trade represents a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VTLE. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 805.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 276.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Vital Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vital Energy Company 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.