Fiera Capital Corp Raises Position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in EQT Corporation by 50.7% in Q1, now owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $55 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on EQT, with price targets ranging from $49.00 to $69.00, reflecting a consensus average target of $60.84.
• EQT announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.21%, with payment scheduled for September 2nd.

Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 50.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,036,448 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 348,898 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.17% of EQT worth $55,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EQT. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of EQT by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,143,774 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $606,059,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162,065 shares in the last quarter. Slate Path Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at $123,575,000. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of EQT by 199.5% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,990,714 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $184,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,658,375 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of EQT by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,855,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $638,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433,632 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at $59,627,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Mizuho raised EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised EQT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded EQT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value 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 trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT stock traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.38. 4,105,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,506,881. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.17 and a 200 day moving average of $53.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. EQT Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.02 and a 52-week high of $61.02. The company has a market cap of $32.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.65.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.05%.

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.