Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price Down 4.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) traded down 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $17.34 and last traded at $17.51. 141,902 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,340,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Zacks Research raised Vital Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Vital Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vital Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.80.

Vital Energy Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $666.07 million, a PE ratio of -0.87 and a beta of 1.62.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 11.86% and a negative net margin of 38.52%.The business had revenue of $429.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In related news, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell sold 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.25, for a total value of $4,562,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,618,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,045,527.25. The trade was a 3.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 58.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Vital Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Vital Energy by 30.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Vital Energy by 146.8% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,787 shares in the last quarter. 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.