Hodges Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in EQT Corporation, purchasing 37,010 shares valued at approximately $1.98 million.
• Recent insider trading included Sarah Fenton, EVP, selling 12,438 shares, resulting in a 48.33% decrease in her position, while Vicky A. Bailey, a director, sold 4,259 shares.
• EQT Corporation reported a quarterly earnings miss, with earnings per share at $0.45, trailing behind analysts' expectations of $0.52.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 37,010 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,977,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQT. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of EQT by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 693 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of EQT by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 960 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter worth $72,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on EQT from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group increased their price target on EQT from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up previously from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.86.

EQT Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:EQT traded down $0.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $49.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,406,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,131,456. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.82 and a 12 month high of $61.02. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $52.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.05%.

Insider Activity

In other EQT news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value of $646,029.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.