Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $25.00. The stock had previously closed at $17.17, but opened at $16.55. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Vital Energy shares last traded at $16.9510, with a volume of 97,028 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vital Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Vital Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vital Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Vital Energy in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $27.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vital Energy by 10.6% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the third quarter valued at $6,757,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Vital Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Stock Down 0.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $659.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.86 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.79.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $420.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.87 million. Vital Energy had a negative net margin of 38.52% and a positive return on equity of 11.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.