Stonegate Investment Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 75,655 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 11,955 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $9,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EOG. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in EOG Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in EOG Resources during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on EOG. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $144.00 target price (down from $151.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp cut their target price on EOG Resources from $157.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total value of $76,867.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,185.56. The trade was a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on 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 owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. This trade represents a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

EOG Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EOG opened at $131.87 on Tuesday. 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 $74.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.37. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.94 and a 52 week high of $139.67.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 29.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.975 dividend. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 31.40%.

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

EOG Resources 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.