EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve 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. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $143.48.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th.

EOG Resources Stock Up 1.5 %

EOG Resources stock opened at $126.57 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $127.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.54. EOG Resources has a 1-year low of $108.94 and a 1-year high of $139.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.07.

EOG Resources declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy exploration company to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total transaction of $483,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of EOG Resources 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 sale, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,185.56. This trade represents a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,780 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $3,773,000 after buying an additional 13,060 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,609 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in 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. boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,284,228 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $694,717,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076,134 shares during the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.