EQT Corporation $EQT Position Increased by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in EQT Corporation by 2,558.6%, acquiring an additional 873,108 shares and bringing its total ownership to 907,232 shares valued at approximately $48 million.
• EQT reported a Q2 earnings miss, with earnings per share of $0.45 falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.52, alongside a revenue of $1.60 billion compared to the forecasted $1.78 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575, indicating an annualized yield of 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 34.05%.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 2,558.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 907,232 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 873,108 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of EQT worth $48,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in EQT during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of EQT by 48.4% in the first 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. raised its position in shares of EQT by 47.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in EQT by 255.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,422 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of EQT from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Melius began coverage on shares of EQT in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.14.

EQT Stock Down 0.0%

EQT traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.94. 4,746,454 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,170,850. The company has a market cap of $31.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.58. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $52.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.05.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%.The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. EQT's payout ratio is presently 34.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total transaction of $646,029.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

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.