Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has increased its holdings in EQT Corporation by 30.8%, now owning 55,720 shares valued at approximately $2.97 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Castle Hook Partners LP and Vanguard Group Inc., have also significantly increased their stakes in EQT, with hedge funds owning 90.81% of the company’s stock.
• EQT Corporation recently reported earnings of $0.45 EPS, missing the analysts' expectations of $0.52, while its quarterly dividend yield stands at 1.2%.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 30.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,720 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 13,122 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in EQT were worth $2,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 8.9% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 29,928 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in EQT by 10.3% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,191,780 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $277,397,000 after purchasing an additional 484,671 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in EQT by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 173,674 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,024 shares in the last quarter. Gemsstock Ltd. bought a new stake in EQT in the 1st quarter worth about $9,270,000. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in EQT by 293.0% in the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 11,287 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 8,415 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $219,594.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of EQT 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,646.18. The trade was a 48.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Melius assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.14.

EQT Price Performance

NYSE EQT traded down $0.1340 on Friday, hitting $51.9160. The stock had a trading volume of 4,768,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,375,581. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.91 and a 200-day moving average of $53.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.59. EQT Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.45 and a 52-week high of $61.02.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. Equities analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.05%.

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.