Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Takes $59.63 Million Position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,293,152 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $59,627,000. EQT comprises about 2.3% of Encompass Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.22% of EQT as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 173,596 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in EQT by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 700,714 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 198,227 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in EQT by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,478 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in EQT by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,813 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in EQT by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,508 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 5,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.23. 3,357,085 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,658,945. EQT Co. has a one year low of $30.02 and a one year high of $56.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.10 and a 200 day moving average of $48.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.58, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.59.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.20. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that EQT Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on EQT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "reduce" rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of EQT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of EQT from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of EQT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of EQT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

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.