Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Mizuho from $39.00 to $37.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s price target points to a potential upside of 25.64% from the stock’s current price.

VTLE has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock opened at $29.45 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.17. Vital Energy has a 52 week low of $25.85 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 3.19. 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 (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. The business had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Vital Energy will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $285,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 14.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,214,000 after buying an additional 220,871 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 19.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,227,000 after buying an additional 282,574 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Vital Energy during the second quarter worth $64,690,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,031,000 after buying an additional 17,782 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 6.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,507,000 after buying an additional 35,133 shares during the period. 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.