Reviewing Kimbell Royalty Partners (NYSE:KRP) and 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 contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

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

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kimbell Royalty Partners	$324.31 million	4.60	$66.54 million	$0.51	30.65
Vital Energy	$1.95 billion	0.53	$695.08 million	($4.75)	-5.70

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.

Institutional and Insider 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 insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Vital Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings 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 29.56%. Vital Energy has a consensus price target of $45.70, indicating a potential upside of 68.73%. Given Vital Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vital Energy is more favorable than Kimbell Royalty Partners.

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%

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.