EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Declares $0.98 Quarterly Dividend

EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of 0.975 per share by the energy exploration company on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th.

EOG Resources has increased its dividend by an average of 23.1% annually over the last three years. EOG Resources has a payout ratio of 31.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Price Performance

NYSE EOG traded down $6.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $120.28. 7,431,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,039,013. EOG Resources has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year 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. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $129.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.90. The company has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.27.

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

EOG Resources announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at EOG Resources

In other EOG Resources news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on EOG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of EOG Resources from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $148.00 to $146.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research raised EOG Resources from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $143.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (down previously from $151.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Twelve equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.80.

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.