Vital Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:VTLE)

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 7,915 call options on the company. This is an increase of 302% compared to the average daily volume of 1,971 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Energy news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,974 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 transaction of $123,841.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,494 shares of the company's stock, 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 dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.75 per share, for a total transaction of $88,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,528. This represents a 13.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock valued at $448,742. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,110,000 after buying an additional 187,503 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $750,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 5.1% in the 4th 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 130,842 shares of the company's stock worth $4,046,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock traded down $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $16.51. 812,419 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,094,158. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $640.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 1.59. Vital Energy has a twelve month low of $12.30 and a twelve month high of $47.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.26. Vital Energy had a negative net margin of 8.89% and a positive return on equity of 9.48%. 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 posted $1.84 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Vital Energy will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VTLE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Siebert Williams Shank lowered shares of Vital Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $23.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.36.

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.