Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 907,130 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 64.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,304,681 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 907,130 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.39% of EQT worth $123,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EQT by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,530,286 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,344,371,000 after acquiring an additional 358,649 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,427,307 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $663,552,000 after purchasing an additional 429,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of EQT by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,855,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $638,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,632 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in EQT by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,829,938 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $637,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774,696 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in EQT by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,143,774 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $606,059,000 after buying an additional 4,162,065 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:EQT traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,083,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,884,270. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $57.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 137.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.45.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. On average, research analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 110.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQT has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded EQT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on EQT from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $62.00 price objective (up previously from $57.00) on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EQT currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.11.

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.