Stifel Nicolaus Increases Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) Price Target to $75.00

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 35.92% from the stock’s previous close.

VTLE has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Vital Energy from $86.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Vital Energy from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Vital Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Vital Energy from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.40.

Vital Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

VTLE traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $55.18. 124,206 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,803. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 3.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Vital Energy has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $62.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.98.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTLE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 9.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,319,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,121,000 after purchasing an additional 114,629 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 801,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,445,000 after purchasing an additional 71,166 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Vital Energy by 27.5% in the 3rd 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Energy by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 253,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,027,000 after purchasing an additional 30,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 198,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,042,000 after buying an additional 64,881 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.