Bank of America Corp DE Has $1.18 Million Stock Position in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its stake in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) by 84.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,251 shares of the company's stock after selling 210,715 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.10% of Vital Energy worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $750,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Vital Energy by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 192,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,965,000 after purchasing an additional 9,320 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Vital Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 130,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,046,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,292,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $788,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on VTLE shares. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded Vital Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Vital Energy to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.36.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VTLE traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.13. 1,039,674 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,096,159. The stock has a market capitalization of $663.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.61 and a beta of 1.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $15.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78. Vital Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.30 and a fifty-two week high of $47.80.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $512.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,022,335.88. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO M. Jason Pigott acquired 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.09 per share, with a total value of $99,495.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 251,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,550,231.97. This represents a 2.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock valued at $448,742 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Vital Energy 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.