Raymond James & Associates Makes New $2.43 Million Investment in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 53,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,432,000. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.19% of Vital Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VTLE. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the third quarter worth $31,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the second quarter worth $58,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at $67,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Centerpoint Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 31.7% during the third quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 2,075 shares of the company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VTLE. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $86.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $57.60.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $55.05. The stock had a trading volume of 589,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Vital Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $62.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 3.24.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $444.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.85 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 44.91% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Vital Energy's revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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.