Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target Lowered to $52.00 at Piper Sandler

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price decreased by Piper Sandler from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VTLE. Raymond James increased their price target on Vital Energy from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Vital Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Vital Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $86.00 to $77.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $58.90.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTLE opened at $54.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 3.24. Vital Energy has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $62.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.98.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $444.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $440.85 million. Vital Energy had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 44.91%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Vital Energy will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VTLE. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $7,306,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 9.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,319,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,121,000 after acquiring an additional 114,629 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 27.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,613,000 after acquiring an additional 111,320 shares during the last quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,165,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 801,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,445,000 after buying an additional 71,166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

About Vital Energy

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.