EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Shares Bought by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 44.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 625 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of EOG Resources by 856.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200,851 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $147,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,334 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the second quarter valued at $106,990,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 577.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 696,596 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $85,389,000 after purchasing an additional 593,823 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in EOG Resources by 9.1% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EOG shares. StockNews.com raised shares of EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $157.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 price target (down from $151.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.48.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

EOG opened at $134.07 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.22. 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 cap of $75.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.94 and a 1 year high of $139.67.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The energy exploration company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.16. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 EPS for the current year.

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. 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 payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

EOG Resources declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,185.56. This represents a 1.29 % 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, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total transaction of $483,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,365.67. This represents a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% 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.