Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Boosts Holdings in EQT Corporation $EQT

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. lifted its stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 262,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,100 shares during the period. EQT accounts for approximately 2.1% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $14,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in EQT during the 1st quarter worth $256,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in EQT by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in EQT by 495.2% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 128,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,468,000 after purchasing an additional 106,545 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in EQT by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 8,658 shares during the period. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC boosted its stake in EQT by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 21,375 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE:EQT opened at $51.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.55. EQT Corporation has a twelve month low of $48.47 and a twelve month high of $68.24. The company has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.55.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.32. EQT had a net margin of 31.94% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. EQT’s payout ratio is 12.52%.

Insider Transactions at EQT

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,116 shares of EQT stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total transaction of $246,136.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 1,731 shares of EQT stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.46, for a total transaction of $92,539.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,333,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,732,497.78. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 107,706 shares of company stock worth $5,917,367 over the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQT. Zacks Research cut shares of EQT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of EQT from $78.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.83.

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.