Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Buys New Shares in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI has acquired a new stake in EQT Corporation, purchasing 345,266 shares valued at approximately $18.4 million, bringing its ownership to 0.06% of the company.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in EQT, with Harbour Investments Inc. boosting its stake by 48.4% in the first quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest.
• Equities research analysts have rated EQT positively, with fifteen giving it a "Buy" rating and an average price target of $62.14, suggesting potential growth for investors.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 345,266 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $18,448,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.06% of EQT as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,766 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 3,746 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 158,902 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,327,000 after buying an additional 19,350 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,848 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,296,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,828,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Price Performance

EQT traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.94. 4,746,454 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,170,850. The business's 50 day moving average price is $52.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.58. EQT Corporation has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $61.02.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $219,594.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares in the company, valued at $690,646.18. This 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EQT shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on EQT from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on EQT from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Melius Research initiated coverage on EQT in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded EQT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQT has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.14.

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.