EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $144.00 to $148.00. The stock had previously closed at $120.59, but opened at $125.24. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. EOG Resources shares last traded at $124.68, with a volume of 1,461,948 shares.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EOG. Barclays increased their target price on EOG Resources from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank upgraded EOG Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on EOG Resources from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.00.

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,037 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.76, for a total transaction of $515,767.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 47,732 shares in the company, valued at $6,098,240.32. The trade was a 7.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EOG Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in EOG Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $735,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in EOG Resources by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 826,038 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $101,256,000 after acquiring an additional 106,677 shares during the last quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in EOG Resources by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 103,037 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $12,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150 shares during the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in EOG Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $27,102,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in EOG Resources by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,192,314 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $2,230,014,000 after acquiring an additional 781,282 shares during the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EOG Resources Trading Up 4.1%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $111.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.95. The company has a market cap of $68.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.74. 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 (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy exploration company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.12. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 29.18%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This is a positive change from EOG Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. EOG Resources's payout ratio is presently 36.18%.

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.