UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for EQT (NYSE:EQT) Stock

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its target price increased by stock analysts at UBS Group from $64.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.05% from the stock’s previous close.

EQT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.71.

EQT Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of EQT stock opened at $51.9810 on Wednesday. EQT has a 12-month low of $31.45 and a 12-month high of $61.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.13.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that EQT will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQT news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total transaction of $646,029.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQT. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in EQT by 199.5% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,990,714 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,658,375 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in EQT during the first quarter worth approximately $120,252,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in EQT by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,039,340 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,955,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,054 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in EQT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,627,000. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc CT purchased a new position in EQT during the second quarter worth approximately $67,539,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

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.