EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $143.00 target price on the energy exploration company’s stock.

EOG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James increased their price objective on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.48.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

NYSE EOG opened at $126.57 on Friday. EOG Resources has a twelve month low of $108.94 and a twelve month high of $139.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.50.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.975 dividend. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.40%.

EOG Resources announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy exploration company to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 42,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,185.56. The trade was 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EOG. DRW Securities LLC boosted its position in EOG Resources by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 26,838 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $3,299,000 after acquiring an additional 13,324 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 7.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,112 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in EOG Resources during the third quarter worth $730,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its position in EOG Resources by 3,976.8% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 10,885 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 10,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in EOG Resources by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 119,132 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $14,645,000 after buying an additional 12,210 shares during the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.