EQT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 11,978 call options on the company. This is an increase of 41% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,521 call options.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $40.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. EQT has a 1-year low of $30.02 and a 1-year high of $42.44. The stock has a market cap of $17.97 billion, a PE ratio of 48.42 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.64.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 3.74% and a net margin of 5.52%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that EQT will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. EQT’s payout ratio is 75.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of EQT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on EQT in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on EQT in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.83.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQT. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 18,080.0% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in EQT by 936.1% during the second quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in EQT by 149.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 998 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

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.