EQT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 21,512 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 37% compared to the average volume of 15,750 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EQT shares. Mizuho raised shares of EQT from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $48.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EQT to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EQT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.94.

EQT Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of EQT opened at $52.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. EQT has a 1 year low of $30.02 and a 1 year high of $53.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.45. The firm has a market cap of $31.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.36 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.06. EQT had a net margin of 5.52% and a return on equity of 3.74%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that EQT will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total transaction of $1,351,803.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 201,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,038,086.64. This trade represents a 13.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in EQT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 18,080.0% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 184.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.