Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,014 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Vital Energy were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 805.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 276.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Vital Energy by 247.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new position in Vital Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTLE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $23.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Siebert Williams Shank lowered shares of Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,335.88. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.75 per share, for a total transaction of $88,750.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 43,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,528. This trade represents a 13.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Energy Stock Up 7.5%

Vital Energy stock opened at $18.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $705.92 million, a P/E ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.30 and a 1-year high of $51.71.

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

Vital Energy 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.