Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in EQT Corporation by 32.8%, owning approximately 517,281 shares valued at $27.6 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors also raised their stakes in EQT during the fourth quarter, showcasing strong interest in the company, which is now 90.81% owned by such investors.
• EQT Corporation recently reported an earnings miss for the quarter, with an EPS of $0.45 against estimates of $0.52, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share scheduled for payment on September 2nd.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 32.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 517,281 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 127,833 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of EQT worth $27,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 47.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in EQT by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,422 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of EQT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of EQT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of EQT stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $690,646.18. The trade was a 48.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT stock traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,273,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,846,872. EQT Corporation has a 12-month low of $30.02 and a 12-month high of $61.02. The company has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $56.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.19.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

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

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.