Heartland Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in EOG Resources by 2.0% in Q1, holding 114,939 shares valued at $14.74 million following the sale of 2,298 shares.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 89.91% of EOG Resources, with notable increases in holdings by firms such as Capital World Investors and GAMMA Investing LLC.
• EOG Resources recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.98 to $1.02, demonstrating a positive payout ratio of 37.85% for shareholders.

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,939 shares of the energy exploration company's stock after selling 2,298 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $14,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 562.2% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 245 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the first quarter worth $34,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 10Elms LLP acquired a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on EOG Resources from $125.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Twelve investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.62.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

Shares of EOG Resources stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.11. 997,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,684,707. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.52 and a 12 month high of $138.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.86. The company has a market capitalization of $66.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.87.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy exploration company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.12. EOG Resources had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from EOG Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. EOG Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.18%.

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 3,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $472,737.15. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,472,671.35. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% 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.