Crescent Energy Company (CRGY) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
Crescent Energy (CRGY) is a way to own a fast-consolidating US oil and gas producer that grows mainly by acquiring assets in basins like the Eagle Ford, Permian, and Uinta, pays a fixed quarterly dividend, and whose stock swings with oil and gas prices and its debt load.
CRGY stock price
As of 2026-07-14, Crescent Energy Company (CRGY) last closed at $9.90, up 13.0% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $7.75 and $13.92.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Crescent Energy Company's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Crescent Energy Company (CRGY) do?
Crescent Energy Company is a Houston-based independent exploration and production (E&P) business that describes itself as a disciplined consolidator: it buys long-life oil and gas assets, integrates them, and returns capital to shareholders through a fixed dividend and buybacks. Its portfolio is concentrated in key US basins including the Eagle Ford, Permian, and Uinta, and it blends stable cash-flow-generating production with development inventory and a mineral and royalty component. In December 2025 it closed the acquisition of Vital Energy, a deal that materially scaled the company and positioned it as one of the larger liquids-weighted US independents.
The investment picture is a growth-by-acquisition and free-cash-flow story layered on top of commodity risk. Q1 2026 brought record production of about 341 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day and revenue of roughly $1.18 billion, up about 24% year over year, yet a large mark-to-market loss on hedges pushed reported net income to a loss. The counterweights are a debt balance above $5 billion, net leverage around 1.5x that management wants to bring toward 1.0x, and earnings that can swing sharply with oil and gas prices and derivative marks. For investors, CRGY is a higher-risk, income-plus-growth energy name where execution on integration and deleveraging matters as much as the commodity backdrop.
What's driving Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)?
1. Growth by acquisition and integration
Crescent's core strategy is buying oil and gas assets and integrating them for scale and synergies. The December 2025 Vital Energy merger and several minerals acquisitions lifted daily production roughly 32% year over year to a record level in Q1 2026. Management reported capturing about $120 million of Vital synergies ahead of schedule, which is central to the thesis that consolidation creates value.
2. Free cash flow and capital returns
The company emphasizes levered free cash flow and returning capital through a fixed quarterly dividend (about $0.12 per share) plus buybacks. It generated roughly $192 million of levered free cash flow in Q1 2026 and has pointed to expectations of around $1 billion of levered free cash flow for the full year. That cash funds both the dividend and debt reduction.
3. Deleveraging path
Net leverage sat near 1.5x after the Vital deal, and management has stated a target of moving toward 1.0x, with a stated maximum around 1.5x. Directing free cash flow to pay down the roughly $5 billion debt balance is a stated priority. Lower leverage would reduce interest expense and financial risk over time.
4. Balanced, liquids-weighted asset base
Crescent runs a mix of lower-decline production, development inventory, and mineral and royalty interests across multiple basins. This diversification is meant to smooth cash flow relative to a single-basin operator. A liquids-weighted mix ties revenue more to oil prices, which management frames as a feature of its scale after the Vital combination.
What are the risks to Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)?
Crescent carries a debt balance above $5 billion and net leverage near 1.5x, which amplifies the effect of commodity swings on equity value. Oil and gas prices are the dominant driver, and a large derivative (hedging) loss of roughly $700 million pushed Q1 2026 to a reported net loss even as operating income and revenue rose. Growth by acquisition brings integration risk, potential dilution, and the possibility of overpaying, and reported GAAP earnings have been negative on a trailing basis. The stock has been volatile, trading well off its 52-week high, and a sustained drop in oil or gas prices, higher interest costs, or a stumble in integrating acquired assets could pressure both the dividend and the deleveraging plan.
How is Crescent Energy Company (CRGY) valued? (approximate, JULY 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Crescent Energy Company's investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$4B
- Q1 2026 revenue: ~$1.18B (+24% YoY)
- Q1 2026 production: ~341 MBoe/d (record)
- Total debt: ~$5.2B (net leverage ~1.5x)
- Market cap: ~$3.1B
- Dividend: ~$0.48/yr (~5% yield)
CRGY trades at a low market cap relative to revenue and enterprise value, which is common for leveraged E&P names because debt sits ahead of shareholders. Trailing GAAP earnings have been negative due to large hedging (derivative) losses, so headline P/E is not meaningful, while a forward multiple on adjusted earnings is far lower, around the mid-single digits by some estimates. The stock traded near $9 to $10 in early July 2026, within a 52-week range of roughly $7.68 to $14.29.
Who competes with Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)?
US independent E&P operators
Peers include liquids-weighted independents such as Permian Resources (PR), Matador Resources (MTDR), SM Energy (SM), and Devon Energy (DVN). They compete for acreage, acquisitions, and capital in overlapping basins like the Permian and Eagle Ford, and set the benchmark for how the market prices production growth, leverage, and free-cash-flow yield.
Consolidators and acquirers
Crescent competes against other acquisition-driven operators and larger buyers for the same asset packages and mineral interests. Companies actively rolling up smaller producers, including diversified majors and large independents, can bid up asset prices and shape the returns Crescent earns on its deals.
Minerals and royalty companies
Through its mineral and royalty interests, Crescent overlaps with pure-play royalty names like Viper Energy (VNOM) and Kimbell Royalty Partners (KRP). These businesses compete for the same royalty streams and offer investors an alternative, lower-operating-risk way to own oil and gas cash flows.
How to invest in Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)
There are three common ways to get CRGY exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so CRGY sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where CRGY fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)
CRGY is a leveraged, acquisition-driven energy name whose record production and free cash flow are set against a large debt balance and commodity-price and hedging volatility.
More on Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)
Whether CRGY is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is CRGY a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the CRGY stock forecast.
For income investors, whether CRGY pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does CRGY pay a dividend?
Build a basket around CRGY with Walnut
Use Crescent Energy Company as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Crescent Energy do?
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Crescent Energy is a US independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Houston. It grows largely by acquiring assets in basins such as the Eagle Ford, Permian, and Uinta, blends producing wells with development inventory and mineral interests, and returns capital through a fixed dividend and buybacks.
Is CRGY profitable?
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Results are mixed. Crescent generated strong operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and levered free cash flow in Q1 2026, but a large mark-to-market loss on hedges pushed reported (GAAP) net income to a loss of about $1.28 per share for the quarter. Adjusted earnings excluding those derivative marks were positive.
Why did Crescent Energy report a loss despite higher revenue?
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In Q1 2026 revenue rose about 24% year over year to roughly $1.18 billion and operating income nearly doubled, but a roughly $700 million loss on derivatives (hedges) plus higher interest expense drove the reported net loss. Hedging losses are non-cash mark-to-market items that can swing quarterly GAAP results.
How much debt does Crescent Energy have?
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Crescent carried roughly $5.2 billion of total debt, with net leverage around 1.5x after closing the Vital Energy acquisition. Management has stated a target of moving leverage toward 1.0x and directs a portion of free cash flow to paying down debt.
Does CRGY pay a dividend?
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Yes. Crescent pays a fixed quarterly dividend of about $0.12 per share, roughly $0.48 per year, which worked out to a yield around 5% at the mid-2026 share price. Investors should confirm the current rate and policy in company filings, since dividends can change.
What was the Vital Energy acquisition?
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In December 2025 Crescent closed its acquisition of Vital Energy, a deal that significantly increased its scale and positioned it as one of the larger liquids-weighted US independents. Management reported capturing about $120 million of synergies ahead of schedule and cited the deal as a driver of record Q1 2026 production.
What drives Crescent Energy's earnings?
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The biggest swing factors are oil and natural gas prices, production volumes, and the mark-to-market value of its hedges. Acquisition synergies, operating costs, and interest expense on its debt also matter. Because it is liquids-weighted and leveraged, small moves in commodity prices can move both cash flow and reported earnings meaningfully.
What are the main risks of owning CRGY?
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Key risks include commodity-price volatility, a debt balance above $5 billion, large hedging losses that can turn GAAP results negative, and integration or overpayment risk from its acquisition-heavy strategy. The stock has been volatile and traded well below its 52-week high, so a downturn in oil or gas prices could pressure the dividend and deleveraging plan.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Crescent Energy Company's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.