Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Stock Position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,653 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after buying an additional 7,491 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $4,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DRW Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 98.6% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 26,838 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $3,299,000 after purchasing an additional 13,324 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,112 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $730,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in EOG Resources by 3,976.8% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 10,885 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after acquiring an additional 10,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in EOG Resources by 11.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 119,132 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $14,645,000 after acquiring an additional 12,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EOG opened at $136.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.94 and a fifty-two week high of $139.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.31.

EOG Resources announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in 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 usually 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 given a dividend of $0.975 per share. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s payout ratio is currently 29.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EOG Resources news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,185.56. The trade was a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value of $483,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,365.67. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on EOG. KeyCorp reduced 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. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of 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 objective on shares of EOG Resources from $144.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $147.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.48.

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.