Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

VTLE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.17.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VTLE opened at $31.22 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.60 and a 200-day moving average of $37.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 3.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Vital Energy has a twelve month low of $25.85 and a twelve month high of $58.30.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $459.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. Vital Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Energy will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other Vital Energy news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $285,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 77,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,212,306.64. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 29,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $879,130.02. This trade represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at about $4,250,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 96.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 145,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after buying an additional 71,385 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after buying an additional 282,574 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 52.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after buying an additional 22,711 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 800.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after buying an additional 481,248 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.