Brokerages Set EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) PT at $46.11

Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.61.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $44.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.44. EQT has a 1 year low of $30.02 and a 1 year high of $48.02.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. EQT’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 201,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,038,086.64. This represents a 13.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in EQT by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 133,142 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 35,733 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in EQT by 121.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 316,945 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,600,000 after purchasing an additional 173,596 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new stake in EQT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,069,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in EQT by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 21,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new stake in EQT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,051,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

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.