Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,525 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of EQT by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,363 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in EQT by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,332 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in EQT by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,672 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in EQT by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in EQT by 13.0% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQT opened at $40.61 on Friday. EQT Co. has a 1 year low of $30.84 and a 1 year high of $45.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. EQT had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 4.57%. The firm’s revenue was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. EQT’s payout ratio is 45.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on EQT. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on EQT from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised EQT from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $39.00) on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of EQT in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.25.

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.