Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $14.88, but opened at $15.49. Vital Energy shares last traded at $15.43, with a volume of 258,716 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VTLE. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Siebert Williams Shank cut Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Vital Energy from $23.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.36.

Vital Energy Trading Up 5.2%

The company has a market cap of $607.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.29 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $512.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $528.76 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Energy news, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.75 per share, with a total value of $88,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 43,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,528. This trade represents a 13.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $207,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock valued at $448,742. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTLE. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Vital Energy by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,110,000 after purchasing an additional 187,503 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $750,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Vital Energy by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 192,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,965,000 after acquiring an additional 9,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 130,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,046,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571 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.