EQT Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 29,416 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 96% compared to the average volume of 15,037 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 96,983 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.28, for a total value of $5,264,237.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,334,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,739,674.72. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 132,741 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in EQT by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 186,352 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,988,000 after buying an additional 32,921 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA grew its position in EQT by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 138,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,417,000 after buying an additional 28,427 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its position in EQT by 114.0% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 48,523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,601,000 after buying an additional 25,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the fourth quarter valued at $1,099,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of EQT from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.08.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $54.16. 1,776,765 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,524,252. EQT has a twelve month low of $47.94 and a twelve month high of $68.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Analysts predict that EQT will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. EQT’s payout ratio is 15.31%.

About EQT

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.