EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $143.71.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $147.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup upped their target price on EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $167.00 to $154.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd.

EOG Resources Price Performance

EOG stock opened at $131.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $127.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.31. EOG Resources has a 52-week low of $108.94 and a 52-week high of $139.67.

EOG Resources announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy exploration company to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.975 per share. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total value of $76,867.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,532 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,185.56. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total transaction of $483,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,365.67. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EOG Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EOG. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 339,191 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $42,694,000 after purchasing an additional 60,658 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 36,739 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after buying an additional 4,925 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in EOG Resources by 44.1% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,118 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after buying an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in EOG Resources by 8.9% during the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,153 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources Company Profile

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in producing basins in the United States, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.