Brokers Set Expectations for Vital Energy Q1 Earnings

Key Points

• Capital One Financial predicts Vital Energy will report $1.54 earnings per share for Q1 2026, with a consensus full-year estimate of $8.49 per share.
• In its latest quarterly report, Vital Energy announced earnings of $2.02 per share, surpassing estimates, but its revenue of $429.63 million fell short of expectations.
• Analysts have given Vital Energy a mixed outlook, with five analysts rating it as a sell and a consensus target price of $28.20 amidst a current stock price of $15.24.

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Capital One Financial issued their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Vital Energy in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, August 12th. Capital One Financial analyst B. Velie anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.54 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Vital Energy's current full-year earnings is $8.49 per share. Capital One Financial also issued estimates for Vital Energy's Q2 2026 earnings at $1.38 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.31 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.32 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.55 EPS.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 11.86% and a negative net margin of 38.52%.The company had revenue of $429.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Vital Energy's revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

VTLE has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vital Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Vital Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Vital Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $28.20.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTLE traded down $0.7850 during trading on Thursday, hitting $14.7850. The company's stock had a trading volume of 587,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,014. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.70 and a 200-day moving average of $19.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $572.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 1.60. Vital Energy has a 12 month low of $12.30 and a 12 month high of $38.02.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Energy news, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.12, for a total transaction of $906,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,568,933 shares in the company, valued at $137,149,065.96. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTLE. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 805.9% in the 4th 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. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 146.8% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company's stock.

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.