Brokerages Set Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target at $46.00

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.36.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VTLE. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Vital Energy from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of VTLE opened at $35.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.40. Vital Energy has a 1-year low of $25.85 and a 1-year high of $58.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 3.16.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vital Energy will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 5.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 2.8% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 15,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 3.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

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.