This Vital Energy Insider Reduced Their Stake By 23%

Viewing insider transactions for Vital Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE:VTLE ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net sellers. This means that a larger number of shares were sold by insiders in relation to shares purchased.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Vital Energy

Vital Energy Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP, Mark Denny, sold US$301k worth of shares at a price of US$54.75 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$37.67). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Mark Denny.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 3.50k shares worth US$140k. But they sold 5.50k shares for US$301k. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Vital Energy Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Vital Energy. Specifically, President Mikell Pigott bought US$95k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

Insider Ownership Of Vital Energy

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Vital Energy insiders own 23% of the company, currently worth about US$313m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Vital Energy Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. Overall, we'd prefer see a more sustained buying from directors, but with a significant insider holding and more recent purchases, Vital Energy insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Vital Energy. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Vital Energy (1 is a bit concerning) you should be aware of.

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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.