Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) Trading Down 5.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Vermilion Energy Inc. (NYSE:VET) (TSE:VET) dropped 5.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $12.99 and last traded at $12.9730. Approximately 352,371 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,358,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VET shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised shares of Vermilion Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vermilion Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vermilion Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell 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 $15.00.

Vermilion Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.26.

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) (TSE:VET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $334.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $384.74 million. Vermilion Energy had a positive return on equity of 3.80% and a negative net margin of 34.30%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vermilion Energy Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Vermilion Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.135 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from Vermilion Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Vermilion Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -12.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vermilion Energy by 134.6% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 217,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 124,500 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 138.9% in the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 105,369 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 61,272 shares during the period. Aegis Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Vermilion Energy by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aegis Financial Corp now owns 870,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after buying an additional 350,000 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 317.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,974,742 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,423,000 after buying an additional 1,501,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,231,446 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,588,000 after buying an additional 398,617 shares in the last quarter. 31.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vermilion Energy

Vermilion Energy Inc is a Canadian-based international oil and gas producer headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Established in 1994, the company focuses on the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas reserves through its wholly owned and joint venture assets. Vermilion’s upstream operations target a balance of oil and gas projects across various regions, with an emphasis on high-quality resource plays that can deliver stable cash flow and long-term reserves replacement.

Vermilion’s product portfolio includes light and medium crude oil, heavy oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).