Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target to $24.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $36.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

VTLE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup cut Vital Energy to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Vital Energy from $32.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $27.00 target price on Vital Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.54.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock opened at $22.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $852.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.71 and a beta of 3.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.53. Vital Energy has a one year low of $19.85 and a one year high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $534.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.90 million. Vital Energy had a negative net margin of 8.89% and a positive return on equity of 9.48%. Equities analysts expect that Vital Energy will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Energy news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30 % 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, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $117,601.29. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at $962,141.49. This trade represents a 10.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vital Energy by 805.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 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.