PITTSBURGH—The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued three former executives of western Pennsylvania's Consol Energy, charging they profited or avoided stock losses by using insider information about Consol's acquisition of a natural gas and oil exploration business.

The 15-page lawsuit contends the executives either sold their stock in advance or bought put option contracts involving their Consol stock just days before Consol announced a $3.74 billion deal to buy the Appalachian exploration business of Dominion Resources Inc.

The deal caused Consol's stock to drop 10 percent when it was announced in March 2010, so the SEC says the executives either made money or avoided losses because of the alleged insider trades.

The SEC says Consol terminated all three men when the company learned of the deals months later.

None of the men immediately returned calls to their homes Friday.