EQT (NYSE:EQT) Price Target Raised to $70.00

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its price objective upped by Truist Financial from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on EQT from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Stephens boosted their target price on EQT from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on EQT in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of EQT from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT stock opened at $52.62 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.68. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.05. EQT had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 28.40%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that EQT will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from EQT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 4th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in EQT during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,204,125,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in EQT in the second quarter worth about $512,148,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in EQT by 41.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,565,479 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,199,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,603,286 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in EQT in the second quarter worth about $163,705,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of EQT during the second quarter valued at approximately $127,420,000. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties, with a primary focus on natural gas and natural gas liquids produced from shale formations.

EQT’s operations are concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Its activities include drilling, completion, production and management of natural gas wells, along with related gathering and infrastructure operations that support the transportation of its products to market.

The company traces its roots to Equitable Gas, founded in 1878, and has evolved through multiple stages of expansion and restructuring in the U.S.