Wolfe Research Upgrades EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) to Outperform

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

EOG has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $167.00 to $154.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on EOG Resources from $143.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.48.

EOG Resources Price Performance

NYSE:EOG opened at $126.57 on Friday. 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 simple moving average of $127.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

EOG Resources declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy exploration company to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total transaction of $483,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at $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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EOG Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in EOG Resources by 856.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200,851 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $147,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,334 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the second quarter valued at $106,990,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 9.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,840,705 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $609,300,000 after purchasing an additional 403,676 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 237.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 487,920 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $61,741,000 after purchasing an additional 343,527 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

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.