Brokerages Set Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Target Price at $46.00

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Vital Energy from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $155,481.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,538.76. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,130.02. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in Vital Energy during the second quarter worth about $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 800.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,248 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,945,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 282,574 shares during the period. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $10,443,000. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Vital Energy stock opened at $28.39 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 3.19. Vital Energy has a one year low of $25.85 and a one year high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.15. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.