Morgan Stanley Cuts EQT (NYSE:EQT) Price Target to $67.00

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $67.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.00% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EQT. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on EQT from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on EQT from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.43.

EQT Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE EQT traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,575,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,445,816. The company has a market capitalization of $33.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. EQT has a one year low of $47.94 and a one year high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that EQT will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 175,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,747,310.95. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 274,042 shares of company stock worth $15,005,076. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

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

EQT News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting EQT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $68.48, well above the stock’s recent trading level. However, several firms recently trimmed their targets while maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings. Analyst price targets
• Positive Sentiment: EQT declared its regular quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, equivalent to $0.66 annually and a yield of roughly 1.2%. The low payout ratio provides financial flexibility, although the dividend is not large enough to be a primary stock catalyst. EQT dividend and market data
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares for approximately $9.65 million. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing the likelihood that it reflects a new negative view of EQT’s business, though it may still weigh modestly on sentiment. Toby Rice share sale
• Negative Sentiment: EQT’s latest quarterly results missed analyst expectations, with earnings of $0.39 per share versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $1.68 billion versus $1.76 billion expected. Revenue declined 29.2% year over year, highlighting continued sensitivity to natural-gas prices and market conditions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines about EQT buying Melbourne Storm, considering a sale of Vietnamese language schools, and pursuing other international investments concern EQT AB, the Swedish private-equity firm—not EQT Corporation. They should not be interpreted as transactions by NYSE:EQT. EQT AB Melbourne Storm transaction

EQT Company Profile

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.