Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $32.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.86% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on VTLE. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.27.

Vital Energy Stock Down 5.2 %

NYSE VTLE opened at $21.85 on Thursday. Vital Energy has a 1-year low of $20.65 and a 1-year high of $58.30. The company has a market cap of $832.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.60 and a beta of 3.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.08 and a 200-day moving average of $30.87.

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

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,214,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,466,000 after buying an additional 118,367 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,442,000 after buying an additional 62,771 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,214,000 after buying an additional 220,871 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,395,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,157,000 after buying an additional 9,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth $39,392,000. Institutional investors 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.