EQT Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 22,623 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 71% compared to the average daily volume of 13,260 call options.

Insider Activity

In other EQT news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in EQT by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 700,714 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 198,227 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake 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 buying an additional 35,733 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 173,596 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter worth $1,069,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of EQT by 55.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 21,789 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE:EQT opened at $46.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. EQT has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $48.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.67.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during 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 last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised EQT from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of EQT from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.61.

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.