Wolfe Research Upgrades Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) to Peer Perform

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VTLE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Vital Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Vital Energy from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Vital Energy Trading Up 3.1 %

VTLE opened at $32.76 on Friday. Vital Energy has a 1-year low of $25.85 and a 1-year high of $58.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 3.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vital Energy will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the firm’s 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 $155,481.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at $796,538.76. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vital Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 17,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,110,000 after acquiring an additional 187,503 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.