EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.29.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of EQT in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of EQT from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of EQT in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on EQT from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQT. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of EQT by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 61,955 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,395,000 after purchasing an additional 15,104 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in EQT by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 190,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,364,000 after buying an additional 9,449 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in EQT by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 49,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,905,000 after buying an additional 15,670 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 538,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,817,000 after buying an additional 18,804 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of EQT by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,009,121 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,013,000 after acquiring an additional 478,544 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT stock opened at $36.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47 and a beta of 1.06. EQT has a one year low of $30.02 and a one year high of $45.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $952.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 4.52% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

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.