MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 3,368 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,408 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in EQT were worth $7,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQT. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its stake in EQT by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 29,158 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 38,230 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,763,000 after buying an additional 15,669 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 686.8% during the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,194,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,098,000 after buying an additional 1,043,050 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of EQT by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,855,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $638,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in EQT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EQT Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE EQT opened at $48.49 on Wednesday. EQT Co. has a 52 week low of $30.02 and a 52 week high of $56.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $28.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.83.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. On average, equities research analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 157.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on EQT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $63.00) on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of EQT from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of EQT from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EQT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

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.