EQT Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.16 (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.1575 per share by the oil and gas producer on Saturday, June 1st. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%.

EQT has raised its dividend by an average of 172.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. EQT has a payout ratio of 15.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect EQT to earn $4.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.63 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.0%.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQT opened at $36.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.12. EQT has a one year low of $30.84 and a one year high of $45.23.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. EQT had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 25.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that EQT will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on EQT from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down previously from $39.00) on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on EQT from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in EQT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in EQT by 3,104.3% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,887 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in EQT by 526.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,899 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in EQT during the 1st quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in EQT by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,605 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Company Profile

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.