Utility Tuesday: 9.8% Earnings Yields, 14–17% ROIC, and Insider Buys Across Gas

This Week's Setup

This week's energy screen narrows to three operators where earnings yields sit near double digits, ROIC stays mid-teens or better, and insiders are still accumulating into prints close to cycle highs.

CNX pairs Appalachia growth with the widest insider skew, Devon balances ROIC and buybacks with a cleaner debt stack, and EOG brings the highest ROIC and gross margins in the group while trading at a modest earnings-yield discount to the other two.

The Three Names

1. CNX Resources Corporation (CNX)

Stock Pixie Score 6.2/10 | P/E 10.19 | ROIC 14.0% | Earnings yield 9.8%

The earnings yield sits nearly double the normalized 10-year average of 5.4%, a spread that signals material undervaluation against the company's own history. ROIC at 14.0% and revenue growth of 48.9% year-over-year show operational momentum translating into returns.

Analyst consensus price target of $37.23 implies 8.2% downside from the current $40.56, a disconnect worth understanding before committing capital. The 52-week drawdown of 7.0% is moderate, not extreme, so the discount is real but not panic-driven.

Bernard Lanigan Jr. filed Form 4 activity on February 23, 2026, and six-month insider data shows net purchases of 377,087 shares totaling $5.30 million. That's 6.8% of insiders buying versus 0.7% selling, a strong directional signal.

EV/EBITDA at 5.66x and net debt at 1.78x EBITDA are manageable but leave limited room for commodity price shocks or capital allocation missteps.

2. Devon Energy Corporation (DVN)

Stock Pixie Score 5.9/10 | P/E 10.77 | ROIC 17.4% | EV/EBITDA 4.60x

ROIC of 17.4% and interest coverage of 7.97x point to a capital-efficient operation with plenty of cushion on the debt stack. The earnings yield of 9.3% compares favorably to the 10-year normalized 4.9%, suggesting the market is underpricing current profitability.

Revenue growth of 7.8% year-over-year is modest relative to CNX's 48.9%, and the gross margin of 25.6% is the lowest of the three. The setup here is quality, not growth.

Net debt-to-EBITDA sits at 0.98x, which is clean, but the 2.7% drawdown and near-high price action mean you're not buying distress. Analyst targets at $51.50 imply 14.7% upside, but that assumes sustained commodity pricing.

3. EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG)

Stock Pixie Score 5.4/10 | P/E 14.41 | ROIC 18.6% | Gross margin 63.4%

ROIC at 18.6% is the highest of the three, and the 63.4% gross margin is best-in-class. Interest coverage of 28.07x and net debt at just 0.49x EBITDA make this the cleanest balance sheet on the list.

Revenue contracted 3.4% year-over-year, and the earnings yield of 6.9% is the lowest here. The normalized 10-year earnings yield sits at 2.6%, so the stock is cheap relative to its own history, but the multiple compression reflects slowing growth.

Three insiders filed Form 4 transactions on March 3, 2026: Michael Donaldson, Jeffrey Leitzell, and Ezra Yacob. Six-month data shows net purchases of 199,650 shares, with 14.4% of insiders buying versus 0.7% selling. Evercore upgraded the price target to $170 from $149, maintaining an Outperform rating.

The 2.2% drawdown and near-high price mean you're paying up for quality. If commodity prices roll over, the premium multiple will compress faster than the leveraged names.

What to Watch

• Insider Form 4 filings over the next 30 days. The buying activity at CNX and EOG is recent; watch for follow-through or profit-taking.
• WTI crude direction. All three names are leveraged to oil prices, and a break below $70 would pressure margins and multiples.
• Merger speculation around Devon and Coterra. News mentions scale synergies; any formal announcement would reset the risk/reward on DVN.
• Commodity volatility if VIX stays elevated. Energy names are defensive relative to growth, but they're not bond proxies. Extreme fear can force liquidation even in fundamentally sound setups.

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