HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in EQT Corporation $EQT

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,452 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 32,372 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in EQT were worth $14,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in EQT in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of EQT by 251.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC now owns 577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $54.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $34.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.26. EQT Corporation has a 12-month low of $47.94 and a 12-month high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that EQT Corporation will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EQT. Weiss Ratings lowered EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $66.00 price objective on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

EQT Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company primarily develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, with a focus on natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

EQT’s products include natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate. Its operations span drilling, well completion, production and related gathering activities, supporting the delivery of energy to utilities, industrial customers, marketers and other buyers.