EQT Stock Gets Increased EPS Forecast from Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research raised its Q3 2028 EPS forecast for EQT to $1.10 from $1.04, while maintaining a “Hold” rating. Full-year EPS consensus is approximately $3.90.
• EQT’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with EPS of $0.39 versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $1.68 billion versus $1.76 billion; revenue declined 29.2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $68.09, although EQT shares recently traded near $50 and the CEO sold approximately $9.6 million in stock under a pre-arranged trading plan.

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research increased their Q3 2028 earnings per share estimates for shares of EQT in a report released on Monday, September 28th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the oil and gas producer will earn $1.10 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.04. Zacks Research has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for EQT's current full-year earnings is $3.90 per share.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EQT. Weiss Ratings cut EQT from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on EQT from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of EQT from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of EQT to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.09.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT opened at $50.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.93 and a 200 day moving average of $55.09. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in EQT in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,204,125,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in EQT by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,679,249 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,109,746,000 after buying an additional 1,398,316 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in EQT by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,565,479 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,199,807,000 after buying an additional 6,603,286 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in EQT in the 2nd quarter worth about $512,148,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in EQT by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,240,709 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $225,478,000 after acquiring an additional 284,244 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a $0.1650 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 15.31%.

Key Headlines Impacting EQT

Here are the key news stories impacting EQT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sell-side brokerages now give EQT a “Moderate Buy” consensus, providing some support for the shares. EQT Corporation Stock Now Rated Moderate Buy by Sell-Side Brokerages
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its EPS forecasts for the second quarter of 2027, to $0.40 from $0.38, and for the first quarter of 2028, to $1.70 from $1.67. These increases suggest some confidence in EQT’s longer-term earnings potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are preparing for EQT’s next earnings report. The company previously missed quarterly EPS and revenue expectations, while full-year EPS consensus is approximately $3.90-$3.92, making the upcoming release an important near-term catalyst. What You Need to Know Ahead of EQT’s Earnings Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks maintained a “Hold” rating, indicating that analysts see balanced risk and reward despite the revised earnings estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: Options activity was notably defensive: traders purchased 66,691 put options, roughly 368% above typical daily put volume. While this may represent hedging rather than outright bearish speculation, it signals heightened concern about downside risk around earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reduced its EPS forecasts for the first quarter of 2027, to $1.43 from $1.47, and the third quarter of 2027, to $0.77 from $0.78. The cuts partially offset the positive estimate revisions.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil, with its operations concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

In addition to its upstream production activities, EQT has interests in the midstream infrastructure used to gather, process, transport, and store natural gas. These assets support the movement of production from well sites to regional and interstate markets.

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