EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus "Hold": 30 analysts give an average recommendation of Hold (18 hold, 11 buy, 1 strong buy) with a 1‑year average price target of $153.68.
• Recent quarter beat estimates—EPS $2.27 vs. $2.20 and revenue $5.64B vs. $5.36B—and the company pays an annualized dividend of $4.08, a 3.1% yield.
• Insider selling occurred (18,230 shares worth ~$2.52M over three months), even as institutional ownership remains very high at 89.91% with major position increases by Franklin Resources, First Trust and Marshall Wace.

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirty research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $153.6786.

EOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on EOG Resources from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on EOG Resources from $128.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on EOG Resources from $155.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on EOG Resources from $123.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on EOG Resources from $139.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st.

EOG Resources Price Performance

Shares of EOG Resources stock opened at $133.09 on Friday. EOG Resources has a twelve month low of $101.59 and a twelve month high of $151.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.32.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The energy exploration company reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.07. EOG Resources had a net margin of 22.00% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.74 EPS. The business's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that EOG Resources will post 13.45 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 16th. EOG Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 5,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.32, for a total transaction of $856,523.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 88,045 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,234,924.40. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ann D. Janssen sold 4,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.04, for a total transaction of $582,706.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 100,246 shares in the company, valued at $14,038,449.84. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,230 shares of company stock worth $2,522,568. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EOG Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,443,453 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $676,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,110 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,977,912 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $312,711,000 after buying an additional 1,231,366 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 474.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,318,254 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $138,430,000 after buying an additional 1,088,867 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in EOG Resources by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,669,969 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $490,394,000 after acquiring an additional 901,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in EOG Resources by 1.4% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 54,907,949 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $6,156,495,000 after acquiring an additional 782,426 shares during the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EOG Resources Company Profile

EOG Resources, Inc NYSE: EOG is an independent exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Tracing its corporate origins to Enron Oil & Gas Company in the late 1990s, the company established itself as a stand‑alone E&P operator and has grown into one of the largest U.S. upstream producers. EOG focuses on the exploration, development and production of crude oil, condensate, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).

As an upstream-focused company, EOG's core activities include geologic and geophysical exploration, drilling and completion of wells, reservoir development, and the marketing of hydrocarbon production.

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