Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires 10,783 Shares of EQT Corporation $EQT

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,254 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,783 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $5,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EQT. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of EQT by 3,853.8% during the third quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 514 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in EQT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in EQT by 198.9% in the 2nd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in EQT by 76.0% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in EQT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Price Performance

EQT traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,717,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,133,903. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.53. EQT Corporation has a 12 month low of $47.94 and a 12 month high of $68.24. The stock has a market cap of $30.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.05. EQT had a net margin of 28.40% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. EQT’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from EQT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. EQT’s payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at $118,747,310.95. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EQT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of EQT from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Freedom Broker lowered their target price on shares of EQT from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

EQT Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas in the Appalachian Basin. Its operations are concentrated in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, including the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

The company also operates midstream infrastructure that gathers and transports natural gas from production areas to pipelines and markets. This includes gathering systems and transmission assets serving the Appalachian region.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, EQT traces its roots to the late 19th century and was formerly known as Equitable Resources.