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Best Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top oil and gas stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best oil and gas stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best oil stocks to buy right now are:

Crescent Energy Co (NYSE:CRGY) is the #1 top oil and gas stock out of 74 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Crescent Energy Co (NYSE:CRGY) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Crescent Energy Co (NYSE:CRGY) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is equal to the oil and gas industry average of 31.

CRGY passed 12 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Crescent Energy Co has seen its stock return 41.29% over the past year, overperforming other oil and gas stocks by 19 percentage points.

Crescent Energy Co has an average 1 year price target of $17.78, an upside of 40.43% from Crescent Energy Co's current stock price of $12.66.

Crescent Energy Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 9 analysts covering Crescent Energy Co, 77.78% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 11.11% have issued a hold, while 11.11% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) is the #2 top oil and gas stock out of 74 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) has a Due Diligence Score of 20, which is -11 points lower than the oil and gas industry average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates TALO as a "A".

TALO passed 6 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Talos Energy has seen its stock return 73.55% over the past year, overperforming other oil and gas stocks by 51 percentage points.

Talos Energy has an average 1 year price target of $18.83, an upside of 12.1% from Talos Energy's current stock price of $16.80.

Talos Energy stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering Talos Energy, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) is the #3 top oil and gas stock out of 74 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) has a Due Diligence Score of 15, which is -16 points lower than the oil and gas industry average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates VET as a "A".

VET passed 5 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Vermilion Energy has seen its stock return 46.36% over the past year, overperforming other oil and gas stocks by 24 percentage points.

Out of 40 oil and gas stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 oil and gas stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Mach Natural Resources (NYSE:MNR) has an annual dividend yield of 16.78%, which is 12 percentage points higher than the oil and gas industry average of 4.41%.

Mach Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio of 303.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Evolution Petroleum (NYSEMKT:EPM) has an annual dividend yield of 13.08%, which is 9 percentage points higher than the oil and gas industry average of 4.41%. Evolution Petroleum's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Evolution Petroleum's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Evolution Petroleum's dividend payout ratio of -600% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) has an annual dividend yield of 10.87%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the oil and gas industry average of 4.41%.

Vitesse Energy's dividend payout ratio of -626.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Oil and gas stocks were up 0.06% in the last day, and up 4.28% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why oil and gas stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued oil and gas stocks right now are:

Sm Energy Co (NYSE:SM) is the most undervalued oil and gas stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Sm Energy Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 41 points higher than the oil and gas industry average of 30. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Sm Energy Co's stock has gained 52.08% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil and gas industry by 30 percentage points.

Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD) is the second most undervalued oil and gas stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Chord Energy has a valuation score of 71, which is 41 points higher than the oil and gas industry average of 30. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Chord Energy's stock has gained 47.48% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil and gas industry by 25 percentage points.

Riley Exploration Permian (NYSEMKT:REPX) is the third most undervalued oil and gas stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Riley Exploration Permian has a valuation score of 71, which is 41 points higher than the oil and gas industry average of 30. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Riley Exploration Permian's stock has gained 65.64% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the oil and gas industry by 43 percentage points.

54.35% of oil and gas stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect oil and gas stocks to rise by 17.73% over the next year.

17.91% of oil and gas stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 26.87% of oil and gas stocks are rated B (Buy), 43.28% are rated C (Hold), 7.46% are rated D (Sell), and 4.48% are rated F (Strong Sell).