Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for EQT (NYSE:EQT)

EQT (NYSE:EQT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $71.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 40.96% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on EQT. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of EQT from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of EQT from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.14.

EQT Trading Down 5.2%

Shares of EQT stock opened at $50.37 on Thursday. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. EQT’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that EQT will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of EQT by 76.0% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in shares of EQT in the second quarter worth $1,074,000. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of EQT by 96.6% in the second quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 19,198 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 9,433 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in EQT by 10.6% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,963 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in EQT by 491.1% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,344,477 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947,878 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting EQT

Here are the key news stories impacting EQT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target for EQT Corporation to $68 from $65 and maintained an Overweight rating, indicating continued confidence in the company’s valuation and outlook. JPMorgan raises EQT price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy put-option activity was reported, with 23,008 puts purchased—about 66% above typical volume. This signals increased short-term hedging or bearish speculation, but options activity alone does not confirm a fundamental change in EQT Corporation’s business.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that EQT plans to invest up to $50 billion in India, including approximately $30 billion in data centers, relate to EQT AB and its investment platform. They do not represent a new investment program by EQT Corporation. EQT India investment plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Similarly, reports about EQT AB’s logistics-portfolio sale, the sale of cybersecurity company Ontinue, and a potential partnership with Norges Bank Investment Management to bid for Acciona Energía concern private-equity transactions rather than EQT Corporation’s natural-gas operations. EQT logistics portfolio sale
• Negative Sentiment: The elevated put buying may be contributing to near-term caution toward EQT Corporation (EQT), particularly as the shares remain below their longer-term moving average and the company’s latest reported quarter missed consensus expectations for both earnings and revenue.

About EQT

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company primarily develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, with a focus on natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

EQT’s products include natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate. Its operations span drilling, well completion, production and related gathering activities, supporting the delivery of energy to utilities, industrial customers, marketers and other buyers.