EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EOG. Barclays lowered their price objective on EOG Resources from $144.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on EOG Resources from $167.00 to $154.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $147.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.48.

EOG Resources Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EOG opened at $126.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources has a 1 year low of $108.94 and a 1 year high of $139.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.50.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.975 per share. This is a positive change from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. EOG Resources’s payout ratio is 31.40%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of EOG Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,780 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $3,773,000 after acquiring an additional 13,060 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,609 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,131 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 11.3% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 7,600 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 64.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,284,228 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $694,717,000 after buying an additional 2,076,134 shares in the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About EOG Resources

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.