First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. Cuts Position in Vitesse Energy, Inc. $VTS

First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. lessened its position in Vitesse Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTS) by 40.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,273 shares during the quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s holdings in Vitesse Energy were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vitesse Energy by 32.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 39,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vitesse Energy by 359.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its position in shares of Vitesse Energy by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 346,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,292,000 after purchasing an additional 113,000 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its position in shares of Vitesse Energy by 230.9% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 135,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 94,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Vitesse Energy by 141.3% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 30,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 18,062 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph S. Steinberg purchased 40,882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.16 per share, for a total transaction of $660,653.12. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 108,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,360. This represents a 60.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 13.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VTS. Zacks Research downgraded Vitesse Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vitesse Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on shares of Vitesse Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vitesse Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Vitesse Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTS stock opened at $15.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $662.56 million, a P/E ratio of -31.77 and a beta of 0.57. Vitesse Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.01 and a fifty-two week high of $27.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.56.

Vitesse Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Vitesse Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -350.00%.

Vitesse Energy Profile

Vitesse Energy (NYSE: VTS) is an independent exploration and production company primarily focused on onshore oil and gas assets in the United States. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the company identifies, acquires and develops low-decline, shallow to intermediate depth vertical wells, targeting predictable production profiles and stable cash flows. Vitesse leverages a lean operational model to optimize well performance and reduce unit operating costs across its asset base.

The company’s core operations are concentrated in the Arkoma Basin of eastern Oklahoma and the Ark-La-Tex region, where it holds acreage positions in multiple formations.