Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $3.69 Million Stake in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) by 77.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,246 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,942 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.36% of Vital Energy worth $3,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Vital Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $959,000. First National Bank of Omaha acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the third quarter valued at about $332,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Vital Energy during the third quarter worth about $301,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Vital Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $846,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Vital Energy by 14.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 86.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VTLE. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $66.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Vital Energy from $48.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.00.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VTLE opened at $31.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 3.19. Vital Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.85 and a twelve month high of $58.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.44.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $459.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.58 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $285,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 77,516 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,306.64. The trade was a 11.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark David Denny sold 5,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.22, for a total value of $155,481.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,538.76. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,168 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.20% of the stock is currently 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.