EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Receives $60.71 Average PT from Analysts

Key Points

• EQT Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 21 brokerage firms, with 15 ratings suggesting buy, 5 hold, and 1 sell.
• The average target price for EQT shares is $60.71, with various brokerages increasing their price objectives in recent reports.
• EQT has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 34.05%.

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.1429.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on EQT from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on EQT from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday.

EQT Price Performance

EQT traded up $0.1320 during trading on Thursday, hitting $52.1020. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,026,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,281,143. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. EQT has a twelve month low of $31.45 and a twelve month high of $61.02. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $54.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.59.

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). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EQT will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was 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 $690,646.18. The trade was a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EQT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQT. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 14.1% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in EQT by 2.6% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,281 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its stake in EQT by 14.1% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 1,711 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in EQT by 3.9% during the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of EQT by 48.4% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 693 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.