Piper Sandler Increases Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target to $32.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $27.00 to $32.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential downside of 4.17% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on VTLE. Truist Financial increased their target price on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their target price on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research raised Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.90.

Vital Energy Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of VTLE opened at $33.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 3.16. Vital Energy has a one year low of $25.85 and a one year high of $58.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.74.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Vital Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 7.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTLE. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,945,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,214,000 after purchasing an additional 220,871 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,110,000 after purchasing an additional 187,503 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,795,000 after purchasing an additional 90,523 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 145,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after purchasing an additional 71,385 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.