Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Trading Down 4.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)’s share price was down 4.5% during trading on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $37.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy traded as low as $30.07 and last traded at $30.07. Approximately 230,835 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 895,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.49.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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 note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Insider Transactions at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of Vital Energy 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 29,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $879,130.02. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,306.64. The trade was a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,168 shares of company stock worth $502,017 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 481,248 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the third quarter valued at $7,945,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the second quarter worth about $10,443,000. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 3.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.44.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $459.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. Vital Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share 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.