Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 77,017 Shares of EQT Corporation $EQT

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) by 67.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 37,173 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 77,017 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $1,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQT. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in EQT during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 251.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC now owns 577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT stock opened at $54.56 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.40. EQT Corporation has a one year low of $47.94 and a one year high of $68.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. EQT’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that EQT Corporation will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at EQT

In other news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 175,328 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 274,042 shares of company stock worth $15,005,076 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on EQT shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on EQT from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.10.

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.