Short Interest in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) Increases By 11.9%

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 21,600,000 shares, a growth of 11.9% from the September 15th total of 19,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of EQT from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of EQT from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of EQT to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.18.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 998 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in EQT by 224.8% during the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $36.81. 659,859 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,059,691. EQT has a 52-week low of $30.02 and a 52-week high of $45.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.12. EQT had a return on equity of 4.52% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $952.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

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.