Vital Energy price target lowered to $55 from $64 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Vital Energy to $55 from $64 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm was a bit cautious on E&P heading into Q3 results as war in Israel and a big pickup in deal activity drove a strong move in the group off the early October lows, and thinks the pullback in the group offers a better entry. Piper continues to see the group trading in a tight range around projected FY24 free cash flow yield, and believes differentiated asset level performance and resulting capital efficiency will be a key driver of relative performance going forward.