SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in EQT Corporation, purchasing 6,302 shares valued at approximately $337,000 in the first quarter.
• The stock has seen mixed analyst ratings; Scotiabank raised its target price to $68, while Roth Capital downgraded it from a "strong-buy" to "neutral" with a revised target of $57.
• EQT recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1575, reflecting an annualized dividend of $0.63 and a yield of 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 34.05%.

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,302 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EQT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in EQT by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,039,340 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,955,922,000 after buying an additional 1,509,054 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in EQT by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,692,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $304,176,000 after buying an additional 113,716 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in EQT by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,204,106 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $278,055,000 after buying an additional 110,249 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in EQT by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,191,780 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $277,397,000 after buying an additional 484,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in EQT by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,658,814 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $251,017,000 after buying an additional 311,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho upgraded shares of EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Melius started coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.14.

EQT Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE EQT traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.02. The company had a trading volume of 3,223,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,127,295. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.11. 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 company has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.58. EQT Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.88 and a 12-month high of $61.02.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%.During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 34.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.