BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Reduces Stake in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its stake in EQT Corporation by 43.7%, owning 21,515 shares valued at approximately $1.15 million, following the sale of 16,715 shares in the first quarter.
• EQT reported a miss on earnings with $0.45 EPS for the quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.52, while total revenue was $1.60 billion compared to the anticipated $1.78 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1575, which translates to an annualized rate of $0.63, representing a yield of 1.2%, and has a current dividend payout ratio of 34.05%.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 43.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,515 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 16,715 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in EQT were worth $1,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in EQT in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,422 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at EQT

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $219,594.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQT. Melius Research began coverage on EQT in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price (up previously from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.14.

EQT Stock Down 0.3%

EQT stock traded down $0.1340 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.9160. The company had a trading volume of 4,768,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,190,374. 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.14. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.45 and a fifty-two week high of $61.02.

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

EQT Announces Dividend

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

EQT 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.