EQT (NYSE:EQT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $59.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of EQT to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of EQT from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank lowered shares of EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.22.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQT opened at $52.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.73. EQT has a 12-month low of $30.02 and a 12-month high of $54.85. The firm has a market cap of $31.24 billion, a PE ratio of 62.33, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Insider Transactions at EQT

In related news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total value of $1,351,803.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 201,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,038,086.64. This represents a 13.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of EQT by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 74,153,050 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,716,968,000 after purchasing an additional 20,700,921 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of EQT by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,530,286 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,344,371,000 after purchasing an additional 358,649 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of EQT by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,095,597 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,359,183,000 after purchasing an additional 7,290,822 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $562,494,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of EQT by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,427,307 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $663,552,000 after purchasing an additional 429,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.