Insider Selling: Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) CFO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $21.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.46 and a beta of 3.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.16. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.85 and a 12 month high of $58.30.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTLE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Williams Trading set a $27.00 price target on Vital Energy in a research 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. Siebert Williams Shank lowered Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.46.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Vital Energy by 1,878.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 6,067 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 127,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Vital Energy by 34.7% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 22,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 153.9% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 43,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,089 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.