Anadarko shares fall 8 percent after stock offering

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) stock fell more than 8 percent on Tuesday as investors fearing dilution from a planned stock offering sold shares of the oil and gas company.

Anadarko said on Monday it planned to issue 30 million shares to fund capital spending. The offering priced at $45.50 per share.

Tudor Pickering Holt & Co, an energy research firm based in Houston, lowered its target price on the company to $78 per share from $83 per share, citing dilution.

Another research firm, Simmons & Co International Inc, wrote to clients that Anadarko did not have an immediate need for cash, but the company was taking advantage of an open window in equity markets.

The firm described the move as a "prudent decision" by management.

In early afternoon trading, the Houston company's shares fell $4.03 to $44.81 on the New York Stock Exchange, underperforming a nearly flat Chicago Board Options index of oil companies .OIX.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston, editing by Matthew Lewis)