Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.15, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $459.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of VTLE traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.18. The company had a trading volume of 677,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 917,373. Vital Energy has a twelve month low of $25.85 and a twelve month high of $58.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.78 and its 200-day moving average is $39.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 3.16.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In related news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $155,481.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares in the company, valued at $796,538.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total transaction of $155,481.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $796,538.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 2,023 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Vital Energy from $41.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Vital Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.83.

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.