Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes $4.83 Million Position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 104,716 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $4,828,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,530,286 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,344,371,000 after acquiring an additional 358,649 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in EQT by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,427,307 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $663,552,000 after acquiring an additional 429,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in EQT by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,855,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $638,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,632 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in EQT by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,829,938 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $637,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774,696 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of EQT by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,143,774 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $606,059,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162,065 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of EQT from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen raised EQT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "reduce" rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of EQT from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on EQT from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.83. The stock had a trading volume of 4,374,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,933,343. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.42 billion, a PE ratio of 139.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.59. EQT Co. has a 12 month low of $30.02 and a 12 month high of $57.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.61.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.20. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.53%.

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.