Wells Fargo & Company Raises Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target to $22.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on VTLE. Raymond James Financial lowered Vital Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Vital Energy from $23.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.18.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of VTLE traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.14. 997,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,136,636. The company has a market capitalization of $625.55 million, a PE ratio of -4.79 and a beta of 1.60. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $17.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.37. Vital Energy has a one year low of $12.30 and a one year high of $47.80.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.12, for a total transaction of $906,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,568,933 shares in the company, valued at $137,149,065.96. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO M. Jason Pigott bought 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.09 per share, for a total transaction of $99,495.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 251,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,550,231.97. This represents a 2.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 53.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,652 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 5,079 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 304,345 shares of the company's stock worth $9,410,000 after purchasing an additional 38,537 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 504,885 shares of the company's stock worth $15,611,000 after purchasing an additional 103,583 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 3,678.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,642 shares of the company's stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 29,831 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $4,022,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.