Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $981,000 in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Bridgewater Advisors initiated a position in EQT during the second quarter, purchasing 18,630 shares valued at approximately $981,000. Institutional investors collectively own 90.81% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with EQT receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $68.08, although some firms recently downgraded the stock.
• EQT reported quarterly earnings and revenue below analysts’ expectations, while revenue fell 29.2% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, representing a 1.2% yield.

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,630 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in EQT by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,161,975 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $62,282,000 after purchasing an additional 132,741 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in EQT by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 186,352 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,988,000 after purchasing an additional 32,921 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of EQT by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 138,368 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,417,000 after buying an additional 28,427 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of EQT by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 48,523 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,601,000 after buying an additional 25,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of EQT by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 583,072 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $31,253,000 after buying an additional 48,587 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EQT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered EQT from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of EQT from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered EQT from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 96,983 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total transaction of $5,264,237.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,334,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $126,739,674.72. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $54.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. EQT Corporation has a 1 year low of $47.94 and a 1 year high of $68.24. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $51.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.54.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.76 billion. EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business's revenue was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 15.31%.

About EQT

EQT Corporation NYSE: EQT is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT's primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.

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