Capital Investment Counsel LLC Has $5.31 Million Stock Holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Capital Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,316 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $5,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in EOG Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EOG Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in EOG Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in EOG Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,365.67. This trade represents a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EOG shares. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $156.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $147.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.86.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EOG opened at $130.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $108.94 and a one year high of $139.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.40. 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) 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. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy exploration company to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.975 dividend. This is a positive change from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

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.