HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 394,625 Shares of EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in EQT Corporation by 82.2%, selling 394,625 shares, leading to a remaining holding worth $4,579,000.
• EQT's quarterly earnings fell short, reporting $0.45 earnings per share and $1.60 billion in revenue, missing forecasts by $0.07 and $180 million respectively.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.2% with a payout ratio of 34.05%.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 82.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 85,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 394,625 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in EQT were worth $4,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its position in EQT by 199.5% during the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,990,714 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $184,012,000 after buying an additional 2,658,375 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in EQT during the 1st quarter worth about $120,252,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in EQT by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,039,340 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,955,922,000 after buying an additional 1,509,054 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in EQT during the 4th quarter worth about $59,627,000. Finally, Two Creeks Capital Management LP acquired a new position in EQT during the 4th quarter worth about $50,657,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EQT Trading Down 0.3%

EQT stock traded down $0.1340 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.9160. 4,768,066 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,375,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.45 and a fifty-two week high of $61.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average is $54.91 and its 200-day moving average is $53.13.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released its 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). EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 34.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EQT. Melius Research began coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target (up previously from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of EQT from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded shares of EQT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $75.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.14.

Insider Transactions at EQT

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $219,594.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

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.