Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Sold by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC lessened its position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 122,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,778 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Vital Energy worth $5,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vital Energy by 0.9% during the first 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Vital Energy by 19.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,227,000 after buying an additional 282,574 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Vital Energy during the second quarter valued at $64,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 8.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 243,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,921,000 after purchasing an additional 18,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO M. Jason Pigott acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.85 per share, for a total transaction of $94,625.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VTLE. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Vital Energy in a report on Friday, June 14th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Vital Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $45.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.45.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Vital Energy stock opened at $27.00 on Monday. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.94 and a 12-month high of $58.30. The stock has a market cap of $989.82 million, a P/E ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 3.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 13.97%. The firm had revenue of $476.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.35 earnings per share. Vital Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current 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.