EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,490,000 shares, a drop of 9.8% from the September 30th total of 21,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

EQT Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:EQT traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,609,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,021,402. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.60. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $30.02 and a fifty-two week high of $45.23.

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. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that EQT will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. EQT’s payout ratio is 75.00%.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in EQT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in EQT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in EQT by 18,080.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in EQT by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 998 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in EQT by 936.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQT shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Mizuho reduced their price objective on EQT from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on EQT from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on EQT in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.17.

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.