EQT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 23,337 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 39% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,816 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 6.5% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,076 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank bought a new position in EQT during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd raised its position in EQT by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 281,569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $15,044,000 after purchasing an additional 58,436 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in EQT in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,977,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,844,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of EQT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on EQT from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on EQT from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Stephens cut their target price on EQT from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded EQT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EQT has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.15.

EQT Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE EQT traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.33. The company had a trading volume of 5,152,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,043,542. The stock has a market cap of $33.13 billion, a PE ratio of 97.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.65. EQT has a one year low of $30.02 and a one year high of $61.02. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $56.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.20. EQT had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 6.59%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EQT will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.53%.

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.