Weiss Asset Management LP Invests $846,000 in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $846,000. Weiss Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.08% of Vital Energy as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Vital Energy by 8.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Vital Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $1,669,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 400.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Vital Energy by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 73,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,307,000 after acquiring an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTLE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. KeyCorp downgraded Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at $796,538.76. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $61,135.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,130.02. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock worth $502,017 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VTLE opened at $29.33 on Monday. Vital Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.85 and a twelve month high of $58.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 3.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.02.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 25.09%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vital Energy

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.