Strs Ohio Invests $1.84 Million in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Strs Ohio invested approximately $1.84 million to acquire 34,508 shares of EQT Corporation during the first quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• EQT's recent earnings report revealed a $0.45 earnings per share (EPS), which missed analysts' expectations of $0.52 EPS, alongside a revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter.
• Following the earnings season, analysts have raised their price targets for EQT, with Bank of America currently holding the highest target at $80.00, reflecting strong optimism about the company's growth prospects.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,508 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,844,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of EQT by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 49,785 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,780 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in EQT by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 83,878 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,868,000 after buying an additional 23,062 shares in the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in EQT during the fourth quarter worth $261,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of EQT by 186.1% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 30,014 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 19,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Price Performance

EQT traded down $0.25 on Friday, hitting $49.14. 26,609,732 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,298,283. EQT Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.01 and a 12 month high of $61.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on EQT from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Roth Capital lowered EQT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of EQT from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.86.

Insider Activity at EQT

In related news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.