Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares gapped down: VET closed at $12.46, opened at $11.51 and last traded around $11.22 on the session with about 284,273 shares changing hands.
• Analyst consensus is a "Hold": MarketBeat shows a consensus target of $15.00 with 2 Buys, 6 Holds and 1 Sell (RBC raised its target to $15 while several firms have downgraded recently).
• Earnings and dividend update: Vermilion reported EPS of $0.63 (beating the $0.30 estimate) but missed revenue at $334.6M versus $384.7M expected, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.135 (about a 4.7% yield).

Vermilion Energy Inc. (NYSE:VET - Get Free Report) TSE: VET shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.46, but opened at $11.51. Vermilion Energy shares last traded at $11.22, with a volume of 284,273 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Vermilion Energy from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Vermilion Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vermilion Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Vermilion Energy Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -3.73 and a beta of 0.42.

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET - Get Free Report) TSE: VET last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.33. Vermilion Energy had a positive return on equity of 3.80% and a negative net margin of 34.30%.The firm had revenue of $334.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $384.74 million. Research analysts forecast that Vermilion Energy Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Vermilion Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Vermilion Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Vermilion Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -13.07%.

Institutional Trading of Vermilion Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,214,261 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $64,161,000 after buying an additional 359,878 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,512,118 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $58,745,000 after buying an additional 1,388,489 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,731,403 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $56,005,000 after buying an additional 73,242 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 118.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,592,890 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $46,645,000 after buying an additional 3,029,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,863,101 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $30,173,000 after buying an additional 631,655 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.91% of the company's stock.

About Vermilion Energy

Vermilion Energy Inc is a Canadian-based international oil and gas producer headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Established in 1994, the company focuses on the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas reserves through its wholly owned and joint venture assets. Vermilion's upstream operations target a balance of oil and gas projects across various regions, with an emphasis on high-quality resource plays that can deliver stable cash flow and long-term reserves replacement.

Vermilion's product portfolio includes light and medium crude oil, heavy oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).

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