Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Boosts Stake in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in EQT Corporation by 3.2%, holding 163,192 shares valued at $9.5 million at the end of the second quarter.
• EQT recently reported earnings of $0.45 per share, which missed the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.52, and had a net margin of 15.87% on revenues of $1.60 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.165 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 35.68%.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,192 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,079 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in EQT were worth $9,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter worth $216,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of EQT by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 205,679 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,989,000 after purchasing an additional 54,779 shares in the last quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter worth $1,284,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of EQT by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philadelphia Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of EQT by 665.8% in the 1st quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 54,371 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 47,271 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Stock Up 4.3%

EQT opened at $56.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.58. EQT Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.44 and a 52 week high of $61.02. The company has a market capitalization of $35.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from EQT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. EQT's payout ratio is currently 35.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on EQT. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on EQT from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of EQT from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of EQT from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of EQT from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.39.

Insider Activity

In other EQT news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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.

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