Analysts Set Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target at $30.36

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.36.

A number of research firms have issued reports on VTLE. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Williams Trading set a $27.00 target price on shares of Vital Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut shares of Vital Energy to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Transactions at Vital Energy

In other news, CEO M. Jason Pigott acquired 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.09 per share, with a total value of $99,495.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 251,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,550,231.97. This represents a 2.24% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.75 per share, with a total value of $88,750.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 43,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $764,528. This trade represents a 13.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTLE. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Energy by 805.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth $123,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth $124,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company's stock.

Vital Energy Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of Vital Energy stock traded up $1.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.43. The stock had a trading volume of 2,261,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,952. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.22. The company has a market capitalization of $830.64 million, a PE ratio of -4.51 and a beta of 1.59. 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 has a 1 year low of $12.30 and a 1 year high of $47.80.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $512.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $528.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Vital Energy will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.