Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) COO Sells $117,601.29 in Stock

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $117,601.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 46,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,141.49. This trade represents a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Vital Energy Stock Performance

VTLE opened at $21.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $807.59 million, a PE ratio of -4.46 and a beta of 3.07. 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 $19.85 and a 1 year high of $58.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.12.

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

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Vital Energy by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,214,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,466,000 after acquiring an additional 118,367 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vital Energy by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,116,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,442,000 after acquiring an additional 62,771 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Vital Energy by 14.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,214,000 after acquiring an additional 220,871 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Vital Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,395,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,157,000 after acquiring an additional 9,676 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $39,392,000. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Siebert Williams Shank lowered Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Mizuho upped their price target on Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Vital Energy to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.46.

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.