EQT Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 22,623 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 71% compared to the average volume of 13,260 call options.

EQT Price Performance

EQT opened at $46.59 on Tuesday. EQT has a 1 year low of $30.02 and a 1 year high of $48.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a PE ratio of 55.46 and a beta of 1.14.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. EQT’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that EQT will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total value of $1,351,803.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 201,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,038,086.64. This represents a 13.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in EQT in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in EQT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 18,080.0% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of EQT by 184.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in EQT during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on EQT from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised EQT to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.61.

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.