EQT (NYSE:EQT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Freedom Capital

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of EQT (NYSE:EQT) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

EQT has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on EQT from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens cut their price target on shares of EQT from $78.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of EQT from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.96.

EQT Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQT opened at $52.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $32.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.14 and its 200 day moving average is $56.88. EQT has a 12-month low of $48.47 and a 12-month high of $68.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. EQT had a net margin of 31.94% and a return on equity of 9.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that EQT will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. EQT’s payout ratio is 12.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.46, for a total transaction of $92,539.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,333,193 shares in the company, valued at $124,732,497.78. This represents a 0.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total value of $246,136.80. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 102,830 shares of company stock worth $5,602,913 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EQT by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in EQT by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 773 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in EQT by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 46,582 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in EQT by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of EQT by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 573 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT’s primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.