NEW YORK, March 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gainey McKenna & Egleston announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased the securities of Vertex Energy, Inc. ("Vertex" or the "Company") VTNR between April 1, 2022 and August 8, 2022, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period").

The Complaint alleges that Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) prior to the acquisition of the Mobile refinery, defendants had entered into inventory and crack spread hedging derivatives that significantly capped the profit margins on 50% of the Mobile refinery's expected output over the period April 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022, affecting over 6.5 million barrels of refined fuel output; (2) as a result, the hedges severely limited Vertex's ability to capitalize on the record-high crack spreads that existed at the time of the acquisition and resulted in over $90 million in losses in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022; (3) prior to the acquisition of the Mobile refinery, defendants had entered into an inventory intermediation agreement with the investment bank Macquarie Group, whereby Macquarie purchased (from third parties), owned, and sold (to Vertex) all crude oil inventory to be used at the Mobile refinery and also purchased (from Vertex), owned, and sold (to third parties) all refined fuel inventory produced at the Mobile refinery; (4) as a result, the strict terms of the arrangement, including requiring Vertex to purchase hedges to protect Macquarie's position in holding the crude and refined inventory, combined with the fact that the oil market was in a state of backwardation in early 2022, resulted in Vertex incurring significant fees and inventory losses; (5) prior to the acquisition of the Mobile refinery, defendants had entered into an inventory purchase agreement with Shell Oil as part of the Mobile acquisition agreement, which Vertex was forced to pay Shell Oil above-market prices for the additional crude oil inventory because of the state of backwardation in the oil market; (6) immediately following the acquisition of the Mobile refinery, Vertex experienced production issues that caused significant shortfalls in refined fuel volumes; (7) following the acquisition of the Mobile refinery, defendants overstated the purported profit margins that could be achieved at the refinery; and (8) as a result of the above misrepresentations and concealed facts, the Mobile refinery did not "generate[] strong EBITDA" "[d]uring the first 30 days of operations," and the Mobile refinery transition was not "seamless." When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Vertex should contact the Firm prior to the May 2, 2023 lead plaintiff motion deadline. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.  If you wish to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact Thomas J. McKenna, Esq. or Gregory M. Egleston, Esq. of Gainey McKenna & Egleston at (212) 983-1300, or via e-mail at tjmckenna@gme-law.com or gegleston@gme-law.com.

Please visit our website at http://www.gme-law.com for more information about the firm.