EQT (NYSE:EQT) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of EQT (NYSE:EQT) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $44.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $37.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EQT. Mizuho lowered their price target on EQT from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stephens lowered their target price on EQT from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial cut their price target on EQT from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered shares of EQT from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $43.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an outperform rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EQT currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $42.18.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQT opened at $36.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.53. 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 market cap of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 1.06. EQT has a fifty-two week low of $30.02 and a fifty-two week high of $45.23.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.12. EQT had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $952.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. EQT’s payout ratio is presently 45.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQT. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in EQT by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 49,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 15,670 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of EQT by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 538,463 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $20,817,000 after purchasing an additional 18,804 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,009,121 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,013,000 after purchasing an additional 478,544 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in EQT by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 54,308 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,100,000 after buying an additional 3,403 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.