Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 814 Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 805.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 915 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vital Energy were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VTLE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vital Energy by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,442,000 after purchasing an additional 62,771 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 637,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,727,000 after buying an additional 4,852 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 504,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,611,000 after buying an additional 103,583 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Energy by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,381,000 after buying an additional 52,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vital Energy by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 428,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,243,000 after acquiring an additional 132,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Vital Energy Stock Up 3.0 %

VTLE opened at $15.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.17 and a 200-day moving average of $27.40. The company has a market capitalization of $611.49 million, a P/E ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 2.82. Vital Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.30 and a fifty-two week high of $55.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $534.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.90 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Energy

In related news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $117,601.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,141.49. This represents a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VTLE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Vital Energy to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Vital Energy from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.36.

About Vital Energy

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.