Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires 54,779 Shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH has increased its stake in EQT Corporation by 36.3%, owning a total of 205,679 shares worth approximately $10.99 million after purchasing additional shares in the first quarter.
• EQT reported an earnings miss for the quarter with an EPS of $0.45, falling short of the $0.52 consensus estimate, and generated $1.60 billion in revenue, lower than the expected $1.78 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share, set to be paid on September 2nd, with a yield of 1.21%.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,679 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 54,779 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in EQT were worth $10,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EQT. Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in EQT in the first quarter worth about $245,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in EQT by 32.0% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 47,302 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 11,477 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in EQT by 155.1% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 19,728 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 11,996 shares during the period. Mariner Investment Group LLC increased its position in EQT by 300.0% in the first quarter. Mariner Investment Group LLC now owns 40,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in EQT in the first quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value of $646,029.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

EQT Price Performance

NYSE:EQT traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $53.51. 10,011,394 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,661,232. The company has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.65. EQT Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.02 and a 1-year 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $56.20 and a 200 day moving average of $53.15.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Research analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. EQT's payout ratio is presently 34.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their target price on EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on EQT from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.84.

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.