EQT Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 50,875 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 350% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,309 call options.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $46.53 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.83. EQT has a 1-year low of $30.02 and a 1-year high of $46.86. 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 market cap of $27.76 billion, a PE ratio of 52.48 and a beta of 1.06.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that EQT will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on EQT from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upgraded EQT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of EQT from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.83.

Institutional Trading of EQT

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQT. Bard Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in EQT during the third quarter worth approximately $878,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in EQT by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in EQT by 136.5% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 79,525 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,914,000 after acquiring an additional 45,898 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in EQT by 154.0% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 316,518 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,597,000 after acquiring an additional 191,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. lifted its position in shares of EQT by 100.8% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.