Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Vital Energy's share price experienced a gap up, opening at $16.11 after a previous close of $15.12, with the last traded price at $15.98.
• Analyst ratings for Vital Energy are mixed, with one "Buy," six "Hold," and five "Sell" ratings, while Piper Sandler raised its price target from $16.00 to $30.00.
• The company reported $2.02 EPS for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, but its revenue of $429.63 million fell short of expectations and marked a 9.8% year-over-year decline.

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $15.12, but opened at $16.11. Vital Energy shares last traded at $15.98, with a volume of 81,910 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vital Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Vital Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $22.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Vital Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $27.33.

Vital Energy Stock Up 6.1%

The firm has a market cap of $620.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.53.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $429.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.25 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 11.86% and a negative net margin of 38.52%.The business's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,284,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,289 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 3,344.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 428,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,899,000 after purchasing an additional 416,325 shares in the last quarter. Ancient Art L.P. purchased a new position in Vital Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,109,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 939.7% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 261,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,554,000 after purchasing an additional 236,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vital Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,961,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company's stock.

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.

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