Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target Lowered to $31.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $31.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

VTLE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vital Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an underperform rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. KeyCorp lowered Vital Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VTLE stock opened at $26.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 3.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Vital Energy has a 12-month low of $26.02 and a 12-month high of $59.70.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.42). The firm had revenue of $476.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.76 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 11.58%. The business’s revenue was up 42.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Vital Energy will post 6.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Energy news, CEO M. Jason Pigott purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.85 per share, with a total value of $94,625.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,411,373.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 800.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,248 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after purchasing an additional 282,574 shares during the last quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,443,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vital Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,306,000. 86.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.