Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $15.24, but opened at $14.75. Vital Energy shares last traded at $14.81, with a volume of 129,677 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTLE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered Vital Energy to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of Vital Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.36.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $20.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.61. The company has a market capitalization of $594.27 million, a P/E ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 2.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $534.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $550.90 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $207,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,974 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $123,841.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $880,900.62. The trade was a 12.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Vital Energy by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 276.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Energy Company Profile

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.