EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) Short Interest Up 21.2% in February

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,260,000 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 16,710,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 8,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on EQT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of EQT in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised EQT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Scotiabank downgraded EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on EQT from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in EQT by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in EQT by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 976 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,731 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of EQT by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,265 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of EQT by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,719 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.54. 4,574,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,267,225. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.85. EQT has a 12 month low of $30.02 and a 12 month high of $56.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.85, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 4.37%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EQT will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.50%.

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.