EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Receives $68.08 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, twenty have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.0833.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EQT shares. Zacks Research cut EQT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of EQT to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th.

EQT Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE EQT opened at $54.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.56. EQT has a 52-week low of $47.94 and a 52-week high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that EQT will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 96,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total transaction of $5,264,237.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,334,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,739,674.72. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EQT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter worth $256,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in EQT by 9.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in EQT by 495.2% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 128,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,468,000 after purchasing an additional 106,545 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in EQT by 39.4% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 8,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in EQT by 43.6% in the third quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 85,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 25,971 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

About EQT

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT’s primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.