Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Boosts Stock Position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC raised its holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 227.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,689 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,952 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in EOG Resources in the third quarter worth about $31,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in EOG Resources by 203.7% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 328 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in EOG Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EOG. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on EOG Resources from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on EOG Resources from $157.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on EOG Resources from $144.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.71.

EOG Resources Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of EOG stock opened at $128.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $72.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $127.76 and its 200-day moving average is $126.64. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.94 and a 1 year high of $139.67.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 3.04%. EOG Resources’s payout ratio is 29.31%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at EOG Resources

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.