Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on EQT (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 50,875 call options on the company. This is an increase of 350% compared to the typical volume of 11,309 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on EQT. 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 lifted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of EQT in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

EQT Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of EQT stock opened at $46.89 on Friday. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $30.02 and a fifty-two week high of $48.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.90. The stock has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.82 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that EQT will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the third quarter valued at about $878,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in EQT by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in EQT by 136.5% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 79,525 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 45,898 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of EQT by 154.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 316,518 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,597,000 after purchasing an additional 191,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

About EQT

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.