Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,220,556 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,423 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $44,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HM Payson & Co. bought a new position in EQT in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 149.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 998 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $42.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. EQT Co. has a 52 week low of $30.02 and a 52 week high of $44.28. The stock has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.69 and a beta of 1.06.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.06. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that EQT Co. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of EQT in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

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.