Stock Traders Buy High Volume of EQT Put Options (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 66,691 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 368% compared to the typical volume of 14,242 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at $118,747,310.95. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQT. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of EQT by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of EQT by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 65,263 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of EQT by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 33,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 11,230 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of EQT by 156.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 93,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 57,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of EQT by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,194 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQT opened at $50.20 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.66.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that EQT will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were paid a $0.1650 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of EQT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on EQT from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Freedom Capital raised EQT to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.09.

About EQT

EQT Corporation is a natural gas producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil, with its operations concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

In addition to its upstream production activities, EQT has interests in the midstream infrastructure used to gather, process, transport, and store natural gas. These assets support the movement of production from well sites to regional and interstate markets.