EQT (NYSE:EQT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein

EQT (NYSE:EQT) was upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $73.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.55% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of EQT in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of EQT from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised EQT to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EQT has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.94.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT stock opened at $53.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current 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 $53.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.55. The company has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 64.12 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 3.74% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EQT will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HM Payson & Co. bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 18,080.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of EQT by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of EQT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.