Short Interest in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Drops By 16.6%

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,610,000 shares, a decrease of 16.6% from the May 31st total of 6,730,000 shares. Approximately 26.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 874,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Vital Energy in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Vital Energy from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.30.

Vital Energy Price Performance

NYSE VTLE traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,046,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,939. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 3.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Vital Energy has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $62.87.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $482.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $454.97 million. Vital Energy had a net margin of 30.34% and a return on equity of 14.22%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vital Energy will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vital Energy by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 18,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the first quarter worth about $1,669,000. Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,619,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vital Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Vital Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after buying an additional 1,133 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.