JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Target Price to $31.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $31.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

VTLE has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Vital Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an underperform rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded Vital Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reissued an underperform rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Vital Energy in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Vital Energy stock opened at $26.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. Vital Energy has a fifty-two week low of $26.02 and a fifty-two week high of $58.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 3.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.65.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.42). Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The company had revenue of $476.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other news, CEO M. Jason Pigott acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.85 per share, for a total transaction of $94,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,411,373.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VTLE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Vital Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,833,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 17,054 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after purchasing an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at about $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Vital Energy by 800.9% in 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. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 18.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 303,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,593,000 after buying an additional 46,248 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.