Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target to $29.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $41.00 to $29.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Vital Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Vital Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an underperform rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.91.

Vital Energy Trading Up 9.6 %

Shares of NYSE:VTLE opened at $30.26 on Tuesday. Vital Energy has a 52 week low of $25.94 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.68. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 3.16. 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 (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.42). The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 42.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.35 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Vital Energy will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In related news, CEO M. Jason Pigott bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.85 per share, for a total transaction of $94,625.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 169,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,411,373.65. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 400.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Vital Energy by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Vital Energy by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $147,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

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.