Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target Cut to $37.00 by Analysts at Mizuho

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price target decreased by analysts at Mizuho from $39.00 to $37.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 23.79% from the company’s current price.

VTLE has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock traded down $1.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 399,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 896,400. 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 $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 3.19. Vital Energy has a 52 week low of $25.85 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.44.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $155,481.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,538.76. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $285,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,306.64. This trade represents a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,214,000 after purchasing an additional 220,871 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,690,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,031,000 after purchasing an additional 17,782 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vital Energy by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,507,000 after purchasing an additional 35,133 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently 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.