Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for EQT (NYSE:EQT) Stock

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.97% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on EQT from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America started coverage on EQT in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.78.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $47.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.90. EQT has a 12 month low of $30.02 and a 12 month high of $48.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a PE ratio of 55.98 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. EQT’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in EQT by 38.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 74,153,050 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,716,968,000 after buying an additional 20,700,921 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $562,494,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of EQT by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,095,597 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,359,183,000 after acquiring an additional 7,290,822 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of EQT by 34.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,997,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $511,159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in EQT in the third quarter valued at approximately $97,979,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

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.