Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on EQT (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 11,978 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 41% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,521 call options.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT traded up $2.81 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.20. 12,581,913 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,060,189. EQT has a 52 week low of $30.02 and a 52 week high of $42.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.56 and a 200 day moving average of $36.64. The stock has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.86 and a beta of 1.06.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that EQT will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. EQT's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised EQT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho increased their price target on EQT from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on EQT from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.83.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in EQT during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EQT by 18,080.0% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in EQT by 936.1% during the second quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in EQT by 149.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 998 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.