Insider Buying: Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Major Shareholder Purchases $88,750.00 in Stock

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) major shareholder Richard D. Campbell bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.75 per share, with a total value of $88,750.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 43,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $764,528. This represents a 13.13 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $15.67 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.60 and a 200 day moving average of $28.56. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.30 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $597.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.30 and a beta of 2.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $534.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.90 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 805.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 247.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VTLE shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James cut their target price on Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank lowered Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.08.

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.