President of Vital Energy Picks Up 2.2% More Stock

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) President, Mikell Pigott, recently bought US$99k worth of stock, for US$18.09 per share. Although the purchase is not a big one, increasing their shareholding by only 2.2%, it can be interpreted as a good sign.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Vital Energy

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP & CFO, Bryan Lemmerman, sold US$285k worth of shares at a price of US$28.54 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$14.64. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$283k for 13.00k shares. But they sold 38.82k shares for US$951k. In total, Vital Energy insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. They sold for an average price of about US$24.49. Insider selling doesn't make us excited to buy. But the selling was at much higher prices than the current share price (US$14.64), so it probably doesn't tell us a lot about the value on offer today. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for Vital Energy

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Does Vital Energy Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Vital Energy insiders own about US$131m worth of shares (which is 23% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Vital Energy Insiders?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Vital Energy stock, than buying, in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Vital Energy has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

Of course Vital Energy may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.