Zacks Research Upgrades Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) to Strong-Buy

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) (TSE:VET) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VET. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vermilion Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vermilion Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Vermilion Energy from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Vermilion Energy Price Performance

NYSE VET opened at $11.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of -3.80 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.84. Vermilion Energy has a 52-week low of $5.14 and a 52-week high of $12.00.

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) (TSE:VET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $334.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $384.74 million. Vermilion Energy had a negative net margin of 34.30% and a positive return on equity of 3.80%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vermilion Energy will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vermilion Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VET. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vermilion Energy in the 4th quarter worth $2,408,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 93,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 5,359 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Vermilion Energy by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,846 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Vermilion Energy by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,174,261 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,483,000 after buying an additional 1,795,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Vermilion Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $448,000. 31.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vermilion Energy Company Profile

Vermilion Energy Inc is a Canadian-based international oil and gas producer headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Established in 1994, the company focuses on the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas reserves through its wholly owned and joint venture assets. Vermilion’s upstream operations target a balance of oil and gas projects across various regions, with an emphasis on high-quality resource plays that can deliver stable cash flow and long-term reserves replacement.

Vermilion’s product portfolio includes light and medium crude oil, heavy oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).