EQT (NYSE:EQT) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $57.00 and last traded at $54.98, with a volume of 47433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on EQT. StockNews.com downgraded EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on EQT from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of EQT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on EQT from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.94.

EQT Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.26. The company has a market cap of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.59.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.20. EQT had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 4.37%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. On average, research analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 53,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 16,416 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of EQT by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,467 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,508 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 5,489 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. bought a new stake in shares of EQT during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the 4th quarter valued at $1,735,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.