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

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price reduced by analysts at Piper Sandler from $38.00 to $37.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 29.10% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VTLE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. KeyCorp cut shares of Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Vital Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.83.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

VTLE opened at $28.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.44. Vital Energy has a 1 year low of $25.94 and a 1 year high of $58.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 3.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $476.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Energy will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $61,135.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,130.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $61,135.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares in the company, valued at $879,130.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO M. Jason Pigott purchased 2,500 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.85 per share, for a total transaction of $94,625.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 169,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,411,373.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 400.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 39.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 100.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the second quarter worth $147,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Energy in the first quarter valued at $206,000. 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.