ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $214,000 in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VTLE. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in Vital Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Vital Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 15,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Vital Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Vital Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClearAlpha Technologies LP grew its stake in Vital Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 13,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VTLE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.36.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Vital Energy stock opened at $34.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 3.16. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Vital Energy Profile

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.