Piper Sandler Trims Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Target Price to $37.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $38.00 to $37.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 39.52% from the company’s previous close.

VTLE has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Vital Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.83.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

VTLE stock opened at $26.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.15. Vital Energy has a 12-month low of $25.94 and a 12-month high of $58.30. The firm has a market cap of $972.22 million, a P/E ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 3.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.42). The company had revenue of $476.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.76 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business’s revenue was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vital Energy will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,538.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,130.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at $796,538.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,833,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after buying an additional 17,054 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter worth about $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 800.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after acquiring an additional 481,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Vital Energy by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 303,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,593,000 after acquiring an additional 46,248 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.