EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• EQT has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 28 firms, with 20 buy ratings, 2 strong buys, and 6 holds. The average 12-month price target is about $68.83.
• Several analysts recently raised their price targets on EQT, including Morgan Stanley, Capital One Financial, and Wells Fargo, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to hold. This reflects generally positive sentiment despite a few mixed calls.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.33 per share versus estimates of $2.01, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share. Insider selling and recent institutional buying were also noted in the article.

Shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.8333.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EQT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Capital One Financial raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of EQT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of EQT from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EQT news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,116 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total transaction of $246,136.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 1,731 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.46, for a total transaction of $92,539.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,333,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at $124,732,497.78. This trade represents a 0.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 102,830 shares of company stock valued at $5,602,913 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQT. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the 1st quarter valued at $256,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,637 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 495.2% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 128,060 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,468,000 after buying an additional 106,545 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,617 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,786,000 after buying an additional 8,658 shares during the period. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 21,375 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Trading Up 1.1%

EQT stock opened at $51.33 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.45. EQT has a 52 week low of $48.47 and a 52 week high of $68.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.55.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.32. EQT had a net margin of 31.94% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Research analysts forecast that EQT will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.52%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.