Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $25.67 Million Stock Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 39.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 700,714 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 198,227 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $25,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter valued at $418,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 174.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 65,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 41,478 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,322 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $43.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.07 and a 200-day moving average of $36.69. The company has a market cap of $26.12 billion, a PE ratio of 52.36 and a beta of 1.06. EQT Co. has a one year low of $30.02 and a one year high of $44.28.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 3.74% and a net margin of 5.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised EQT to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America assumed coverage on EQT in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised EQT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

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.