Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Short Interest Update

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,050,000 shares, a growth of 25.2% from the July 31st total of 5,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 984,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days. Currently, 30.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO M. Jason Pigott purchased 2,500 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.85 per share, for a total transaction of $94,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,389 shares in the company, valued at $6,411,373.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,833,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after buying an additional 17,054 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 19.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after acquiring an additional 282,574 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 800.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 541,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after purchasing an additional 481,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vital Energy by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 303,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,593,000 after purchasing an additional 46,248 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vital Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp cut Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

Vital Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of VTLE opened at $37.03 on Friday. Vital Energy has a one year low of $35.13 and a one year high of $62.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 3.22.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.42). Vital Energy had a net margin of 30.34% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $476.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Energy will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.