EQT Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 41,320 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 113% compared to the typical daily volume of 19,368 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in EQT by 36.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 133,142 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 35,733 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of EQT by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 53,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after acquiring an additional 16,416 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in EQT by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,467 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in EQT by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,508 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 5,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new stake in EQT in the fourth quarter worth $223,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQT has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of EQT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on EQT from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on EQT from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of EQT from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQT has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.39.

EQT Trading Up 0.1 %

EQT stock opened at $51.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.35. EQT has a 1-year low of $30.02 and a 1-year high of $56.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.21 and its 200-day moving average is $47.28.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.20. EQT had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 4.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that EQT will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is 110.53%.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. The company sells natural gas and natural gas liquids to marketers, utilities, and industrial customers through pipelines located in the Appalachian Basin. It also offers marketing services and contractual pipeline capacity management services.