EQT (NYSE:EQT) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $63.39 and last traded at $63.17, with a volume of 3886519 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EQT. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of EQT from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of EQT from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on EQT from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.09.

EQT Trading Down 0.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $40.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. EQT had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 3,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.37, for a total transaction of $227,474.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 52,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,187,898.22. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lesley Evancho sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total value of $1,213,800.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 184,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,203,798.83. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,428,530. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sound Shore Management Inc CT boosted its holdings in EQT by 31.8% in the third quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc CT now owns 1,526,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $83,105,000 after acquiring an additional 368,748 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,161,975 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $62,282,000 after acquiring an additional 132,741 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of EQT by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,108,307 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,325,000 after purchasing an additional 49,714 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of EQT by 1,286.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 735,936 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $42,920,000 after purchasing an additional 682,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in EQT by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 587,172 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,361,000 after purchasing an additional 13,232 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.