EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• EQT Corporation has been rated as a "Moderate Buy" by 22 ratings firms, with an average target price of $63.10 despite mixed ratings, including one sell, six hold, and fifteen buy ratings.
• The company recently had insider selling, with EVP Sarah Fenton selling over 12,000 shares at an average price of $51.94, indicating a significant 48.33% decrease in her position.
• EQT's earnings report showed an EPS of $0.45, missing estimates by $0.07, alongside quarterly revenue of $1.60 billion, below analyst expectations of $1.78 billion.

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.0952.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EQT shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of EQT from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. Roth Capital lowered shares of EQT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of EQT from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of EQT from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of EQT in a report on Saturday, September 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value of $646,029.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in EQT during the 1st quarter worth $216,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in EQT by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 205,679 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,989,000 after acquiring an additional 54,779 shares in the last quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in EQT during the 1st quarter worth $1,284,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in EQT by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Philadelphia Trust Co. grew its position in EQT by 665.8% during the 1st quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 54,371 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 47,271 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT stock opened at $54.91 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $52.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. EQT has a one year low of $35.44 and a one year high of $61.02. The firm has a market cap of $34.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.50.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%.The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that EQT will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 34.05%.

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.

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