Brokerages Set Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Target Price at $47.09

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.09.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VTLE shares. Truist Financial cut 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 note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. KeyCorp cut Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock opened at $31.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 3.16. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.13. Vital Energy has a 52 week low of $25.85 and a 52 week high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $459.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vital Energy will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Energy

In other news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the company’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 transaction of $61,135.06. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,306.64. The trade was a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock worth $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 7.3% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Vital Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Vital Energy by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 15,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Vital Energy by 400.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

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.