Commerce Bank Increases Stock Position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Commerce Bank raised its stake in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,967 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in EQT were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Davis Investment Partners LLC raised its position in EQT by 1.0% during the third quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 30,908 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in EQT by 3.0% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 14,603 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in EQT by 7.4% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,121 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of EQT by 1.4% during the second quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 40.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,498 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of EQT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of EQT from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.83.

EQT Stock Performance

EQT stock opened at $45.92 on Friday. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $48.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $27.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.67 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.20 and its 200 day moving average is $36.98.

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

EQT Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.1575 per share. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

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.