Brokerages Set EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Target Price at $68.75

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.9167.

Several research firms recently commented on EQT. UBS Group cut their price target on EQT from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on EQT from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on EQT from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on EQT from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on EQT from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EQT news, insider Lesley Evancho sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total transaction of $1,213,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 184,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,203,798.83. This trade represents a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 4,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $314,453.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 52,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,414,938.97. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 65,274 shares of company stock worth $3,989,120 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of EQT during the first quarter worth $256,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of EQT by 9.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of EQT by 495.2% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 128,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,468,000 after buying an additional 106,545 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of EQT by 39.4% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,786,000 after buying an additional 8,658 shares during the period. Finally, First American Bank purchased a new position in shares of EQT during the third quarter worth $1,915,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Price Performance

NYSE:EQT opened at $58.70 on Tuesday. EQT has a one year low of $48.47 and a one year high of $68.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $36.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.63.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly 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. EQT had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 31.94%.The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that EQT will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.52%.

About EQT

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.