EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 164,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in EQT were worth $7,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in EQT by 184.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in EQT in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Financial Avengers Inc. increased its position in shares of EQT by 100.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of EQT by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of EQT opened at $46.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.89. EQT Co. has a 12-month low of $30.02 and a 12-month high of $56.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.19. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that EQT Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 157.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on EQT from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.44.

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.