Analyzing Kimbell Royalty Partners (NYSE:KRP) & Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE)

Kimbell Royalty Partners (NYSE:KRP) and Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Kimbell Royalty Partners and Vital Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kimbell Royalty Partners	1	0	2	1	2.75
Vital Energy	2	6	2	0	2.00

Kimbell Royalty Partners currently has a consensus price target of $20.25, indicating a potential upside of 26.21%. Vital Energy has a consensus price target of $45.70, indicating a potential upside of 59.65%. Given Vital Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vital Energy is more favorable than Kimbell Royalty Partners.

Volatility & Risk

Kimbell Royalty Partners has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vital Energy has a beta of 3.12, indicating that its stock price is 212% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

25.8% of Kimbell Royalty Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Vital Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Kimbell Royalty Partners shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Vital Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Kimbell Royalty Partners and Vital Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kimbell Royalty Partners	11.33%	5.82%	3.05%
Vital Energy	-8.89%	9.48%	4.68%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kimbell Royalty Partners and Vital Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kimbell Royalty Partners	$324.31 million	4.72	$66.54 million	$0.51	31.46
Vital Energy	$1.95 billion	0.56	$695.08 million	($4.75)	-6.03

Vital Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Kimbell Royalty Partners. Vital Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kimbell Royalty Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Kimbell Royalty Partners

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in acquiring and owning mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It serves as the general partner of the company. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

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. Vital Energy, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.