EQT (NYSE:EQT) Downgraded by Scotiabank to Sector Perform

EQT (NYSE:EQT) was downgraded by research analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $54.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.27% from the company’s previous close.

EQT has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America started coverage on EQT in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Stephens upped their price target on EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho raised EQT from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of EQT from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQT opened at $53.86 on Friday. EQT has a one year low of $30.02 and a one year high of $53.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.12 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that EQT will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total transaction of $1,351,803.82. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its position in shares of EQT by 195.0% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 59,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,720,000 after buying an additional 39,000 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at $1,735,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter worth $272,000. Lionsbridge Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the fourth quarter worth $399,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in EQT by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,719 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.