Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price Down 16.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) fell 16.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $17.34 and last traded at $17.35. 814,209 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 974,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut shares of Vital Energy to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.08.

Vital Energy Stock Down 17.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $531.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 3.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.27. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $534.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.90 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

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

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Vital Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,214,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,466,000 after purchasing an additional 118,367 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,442,000 after buying an additional 62,771 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vital Energy by 14.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,214,000 after buying an additional 220,871 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,395,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,157,000 after buying an additional 9,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $39,392,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.