EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.3750.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQT shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of EQT from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. TD Securities raised shares of EQT to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Siebert Williams Shank increased their target price on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of EQT from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $60.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.68 and its 200 day moving average is $57.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. EQT has a 52-week low of $44.85 and a 52-week high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. EQT had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 7.25%. EQT’s revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that EQT will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 4,876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $314,453.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 52,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,414,938.97. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lesley Evancho sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total transaction of $1,213,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 184,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,203,798.83. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,158 shares of company stock valued at $3,742,983. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 40,787 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 20,828 shares during the last quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 13,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. now owns 262,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,075,000 after purchasing an additional 42,100 shares during the last quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 119,508 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,406,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 11,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EQT Company Profile

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.