Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 4.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 938,133 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 41,531 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $34,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of EQT by 3.8% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of EQT by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 72,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of EQT by 3.0% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 14,603 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in EQT by 1.4% in the first quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,361 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $33.72 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. EQT Co. has a 52 week low of $30.02 and a 52 week high of $45.23. The stock has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.12. EQT had a return on equity of 4.52% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $952.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that EQT Co. will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP William E. Jordan sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.72, for a total value of $1,425,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 456,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,602,402.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other EQT news, insider Lesley Evancho sold 46,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $1,935,840.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 160,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,642,900.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP William E. Jordan sold 35,000 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.72, for a total transaction of $1,425,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 456,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,602,402.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of EQT from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of EQT from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.17.

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.