Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,214,295 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 118,367 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 5.80% of Vital Energy worth $68,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VTLE. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company's stock worth $9,110,000 after buying an additional 187,503 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 247.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $701,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,974 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $123,841.02. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.75 per share, for a total transaction of $88,750.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 43,072 shares in the company, valued at $764,528. This represents a 13.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,647 shares of company stock valued at $448,742 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of VTLE traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $15.10. 1,410,358 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,089,004. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.91. The company has a market cap of $585.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.18 and a beta of 1.53. 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 1 year low of $12.30 and a 1 year high of $49.20.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James cut their price target 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. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank cut Vital Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.36.

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.