Commerce Bank Acquires Shares of 34,227 EQT Corporation $EQT

Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 34,227 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,820,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,161,975 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $62,282,000 after acquiring an additional 132,741 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in EQT by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 186,352 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,988,000 after purchasing an additional 32,921 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its stake in EQT by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 138,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,417,000 after purchasing an additional 28,427 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in EQT by 114.0% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 48,523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 25,852 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in EQT by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 583,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,253,000 after purchasing an additional 48,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT stock opened at $54.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.44. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that EQT Corporation will post 3.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Capital One Financial raised their price target on shares of EQT from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of EQT from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of EQT from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 175,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at $118,747,310.95. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 274,042 shares of company stock valued at $15,005,076 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

About EQT

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT’s primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.