Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Stock Price

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $32.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 9.86% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VTLE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of Vital Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.27.

Vital Energy Price Performance

VTLE stock opened at $21.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78. Vital Energy has a 52 week low of $20.65 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.08 and its 200 day moving average is $30.87. The firm has a market cap of $832.75 million, a P/E ratio of -4.60 and a beta of 3.12.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,392,000. Condire Management LP purchased a new position in Vital Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,066,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Vital Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,995,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 14.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,214,000 after purchasing an additional 220,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Vital Energy by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 338,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,110,000 after purchasing an additional 187,503 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.