Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Stake Lifted by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,674 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,012 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.05% of Vital Energy worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 3.1% during 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 14.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,214,000 after purchasing an additional 220,871 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vital Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,031,000 after buying an additional 17,782 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 worth $15,611,000 after acquiring an additional 103,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,381,000 after purchasing an additional 52,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on VTLE shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research raised Vital Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James reduced 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.08.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of Vital Energy stock opened at $14.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $543.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.00 and a beta of 2.82. Vital Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.30 and a twelve month high of $55.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.07.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $534.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.90 million. Vital Energy had a negative net margin of 8.89% and a positive return on equity of 9.48%. Analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Energy

In related news, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.75 per share, with a total value of $88,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $764,528. This trade represents a 13.13 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,335.88. This trade represents a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.