EQT (NYSE:EQT) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of EQT (NYSE:EQT) to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of EQT from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of EQT from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EQT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $43.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.29. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $30.02 and a fifty-two week high of $48.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a PE ratio of 51.58 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.06. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that EQT will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Insider Activity at EQT

In related news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total transaction of $1,351,803.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 201,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,038,086.64. This trade represents a 13.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,878,000 after buying an additional 35,733 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 121.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 316,945 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,600,000 after buying an additional 173,596 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter worth about $1,069,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 55.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,228,000 after buying an additional 21,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter worth about $4,051,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About EQT

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.