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

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Vital Energy, Inc. by 48.3% during the 1st quarter, holding approximately 3.28 million shares valued at $69.7 million.
• Vital Energy has seen mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.30, despite ongoing institutional interest.
• Recently reported earnings revealed a beat on EPS estimates with $2.37 per share, although revenue came in below expectations at $512.18 million.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) by 48.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,284,584 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,070,289 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 8.49% of Vital Energy worth $69,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,442,000 after buying an additional 62,771 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Vital Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,395,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,157,000 after acquiring an additional 9,676 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Vital Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $39,392,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 637,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,852 shares during the period. Finally, Condire Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $19,066,000. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VTLE. Raymond James Financial downgraded Vital Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. 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 research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Vital Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up previously from $15.00) on shares of Vital Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.30.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $16.67 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.88 and a 200 day moving average of $20.71. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.30 and a 1 year high of $39.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $646.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.93 and a beta of 1.60.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.26. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.34% and a negative net margin of 6.37%. The business had revenue of $512.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $528.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, CEO M. Jason Pigott acquired 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.09 per share, for a total transaction of $99,495.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,550,231.97. The trade was a 2.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell sold 250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.25, for a total transaction of $4,562,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,618,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,045,527.25. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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