EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Short Interest Up 10.6% in November

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,280,000 shares, a growth of 10.6% from the October 31st total of 12,010,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of EOG Resources 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 transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EOG Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EOG. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $387,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in EOG Resources by 218.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,558 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $12,855,000 after acquiring an additional 68,953 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 26,492 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $3,387,000 after purchasing an additional 11,761 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,933 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,874 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lowered EOG Resources from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $147.00 to $149.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on EOG Resources from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $157.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $144.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.20.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

Shares of EOG stock traded down $2.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $131.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,835,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,122,812. EOG Resources has a 52-week low of $108.94 and a 52-week high of $139.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.26. The stock has a market cap of $73.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.28.

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

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.31%.

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.