EQT (NYSE:EQT) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares of EQT Corporation opened at $51.07 after closing at $52.85, reflecting a gap down in trading.
• Multiple analysts have issued varying ratings on EQT; Mizuho upgraded to "outperform" with a target of $66, while Roth Capital downgraded to "neutral" with a $57 target.
• EQT recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.45 per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations, in addition to announcing a dividend of $0.1575 per share to be paid on September 2nd.

Shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $52.85, but opened at $51.07. EQT shares last traded at $50.65, with a volume of 1,634,761 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on EQT from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho upgraded EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Melius Research assumed coverage on EQT in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital cut EQT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $75.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.14.

EQT Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.91 and a 200-day moving average of $53.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total transaction of $646,029.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was 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. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its stake in shares of EQT by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 130,633 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,023,000 after buying an additional 50,053 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of EQT by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 321,518 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $14,825,000 after buying an additional 17,737 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of EQT during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of EQT by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 898,534 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $41,491,000 after buying an additional 282,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of EQT by 171.3% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 16,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Company Profile

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.