Financial Analysis: Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) & CN Energy Group. (NASDAQ:CNEY)

CN Energy Group. (NASDAQ:CNEY) and Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for CN Energy Group. and Vital Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CN Energy Group.	1	0	0	0	1.00
Vital Energy	4	6	1	0	1.73

Vital Energy has a consensus price target of $27.22, indicating a potential upside of 50.31%. Given Vital Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vital Energy is more favorable than CN Energy Group..

Volatility & Risk

CN Energy Group. has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vital Energy has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

7.6% of CN Energy Group. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Vital Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Vital Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares CN Energy Group. and Vital Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CN Energy Group.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Vital Energy	-69.28%	13.40%	5.79%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares CN Energy Group. 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
CN Energy Group.	$50.96 million	0.07	-$14.04 million	N/A	N/A
Vital Energy	$1.95 billion	0.36	-$173.52 million	($34.87)	-0.52

CN Energy Group. has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vital Energy.

Summary

Vital Energy beats CN Energy Group. on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CN Energy Group.

CN Energy Group. Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of wood-based activated carbon primarily in China. The company’s activated carbon is used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, water purification, environmental protection, and food and beverage production. It also engages in the generation and supply of biomass electricity; production of steam for heating; sale of minerals, stone, metal materials, construction materials, wood, chemical materials and products, rubber products, and paper products; management and conversion of forest and natural ecosystem; and forest acquisition, rights transfer, and nurturing, and timber harvesting and processing activities. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Lishui, China.

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.