Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New $2.78 Million Investment in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 90,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,783,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.24% of Vital Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 805.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Vital Energy by 247.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Siebert Williams Shank lowered Vital Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Vital Energy from $23.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Williams Trading set a $27.00 price target on Vital Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,974 shares of the business'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 transaction of $123,841.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,494 shares in the company, valued at $880,900.62. The trade was a 12.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.75 per share, with a total value of $88,750.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 43,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $764,528. This represents a 13.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Energy Trading Down 1.8%

VTLE stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $16.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,292,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,177. The company has a market cap of $636.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.46 and a beta of 1.53. The business's 50 day moving average price is $17.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.30 and a 12 month high of $51.71.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $512.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $528.76 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

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.