EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on EQT, with 18 buy, seven hold and two strong-buy ratings among 27 firms. The average 12-month price target is $68.10, above the reported share price of $54.56.
• EQT’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with adjusted earnings of $0.39 per share versus the $0.41 consensus and revenue of $1.68 billion versus $1.76 billion expected. Revenue declined 29.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, representing a 1.2% annualized yield, while institutional investors own 90.81% of EQT’s outstanding stock.

Shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.0952.

EQT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of EQT from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on EQT from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on EQT from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered EQT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $54.56 on Monday. EQT has a 52-week low of $47.94 and a 52-week high of $68.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $52.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that EQT will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. EQT's payout ratio is presently 15.31%.

Insider Activity at EQT

In related news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 175,328 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 274,042 shares of company stock worth $15,005,076 over the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in EQT in the second quarter valued at $3,204,125,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in EQT by 5,000.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,749,722 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,953,983,000 after purchasing an additional 36,029,223 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in EQT during the second quarter worth about $512,148,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in EQT by 41.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,565,479 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,199,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,603,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter worth about $163,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company's stock.

About EQT

EQT Corporation NYSE: EQT is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT's primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.

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