EQT (NYSE:EQT) Hits New 12-Month High on Strong Earnings

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $56.24 and last traded at $56.02, with a volume of 1351603 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $53.78.

The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 4.37%.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is currently 157.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on EQT from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of EQT in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens upped their price target on EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on EQT from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on EQT from $41.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EQT currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of EQT stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total transaction of $1,351,803.82. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 201,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,038,086.64. The trade was a 13.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of EQT by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 74,153,050 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,716,968,000 after purchasing an additional 20,700,921 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $562,494,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,095,597 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,359,183,000 after acquiring an additional 7,290,822 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,143,774 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $606,059,000 after acquiring an additional 4,162,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,997,574 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $511,159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company's stock.

EQT Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.96 billion, a PE ratio of 125.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.72.

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.