EOG Resources, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.98 (NYSE:EOG)

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.975 per share by the energy exploration company on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th.

EOG Resources has increased its dividend payment by an average of 23.1% annually over the last three years. EOG Resources has a payout ratio of 31.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect EOG Resources to earn $11.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.8%.

EOG Resources Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE EOG opened at $126.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.27. EOG Resources has a 1 year low of $113.83 and a 1 year high of $139.67.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The energy exploration company reported $2.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.19. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 29.18%. The business had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that EOG Resources will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut EOG Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of EOG Resources from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $147.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.30.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total transaction of $483,560.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy exploration company to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.