Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Increases Stock Position in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its stake in EQT Corporation by 9.1%, now owning 76,940 shares valued at approximately $4.11 million.
• EQT recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 34.05%.
• The company's stock has received positive ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.14.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. raised its position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,940 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,390 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in EQT were worth $4,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in EQT by 14.1% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in EQT by 2.6% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,281 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its stake in EQT by 14.1% in the first quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 1,711 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in EQT by 3.9% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of EQT traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.97. 2,565,951 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,173,835. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.04. EQT Corporation has a 52 week low of $31.67 and a 52 week high of $61.02. The company has a market cap of $31.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.58.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%.The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of EQT stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the business'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 directly owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on EQT. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of EQT from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of EQT from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.14.

EQT Company 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.