Nuveen LLC Acquires New Shares in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in EQT Corporation, purchasing 2,250,644 shares valued at approximately $120.25 million, amounting to about 0.38% of the company.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $0.63 and a yield of 1.2%.
• EQT reported $0.45 earnings per share for its latest quarter, missing estimates of $0.52, with revenues of $1.60 billion compared to expected revenues of $1.78 billion.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,250,644 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $120,252,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.38% of EQT at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of EQT by 203.6% during the first quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 108,720 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,809,000 after acquiring an additional 72,912 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of EQT by 33.7% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 87,218 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,660,000 after acquiring an additional 21,985 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of EQT by 8.2% during the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,971 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of EQT by 196.8% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 403,082 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $21,537,000 after acquiring an additional 267,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the first quarter valued at about $2,458,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,048,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,386,007. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $55.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.14. EQT Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.42 and a twelve month high of $61.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.59.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 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 firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. Research analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQT. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, EQT has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.95.

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.