Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $27.00. The stock had previously closed at $30.08, but opened at $29.23. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy shares last traded at $28.71, with a volume of 62,554 shares.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial dropped 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $796,538.76. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $285,400.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,168 shares of company stock worth $502,017 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 14.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 buying an additional 282,574 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,690,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vital Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,031,000 after buying an additional 17,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 35,133 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.54% of the company's stock.

Vital Energy Trading Down 2.1 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.17. 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 has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 3.19.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $459.23 million during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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.