EQT Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 23,008 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 66% compared to the average daily volume of 13,861 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQT. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of EQT by 76.0% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new position in shares of EQT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its stake in EQT by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 19,198 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after buying an additional 9,433 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in EQT by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,963 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in EQT by 491.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,344,477 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,656,000 after buying an additional 1,947,878 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of EQT stock traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.48. 3,696,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,200,979. EQT has a 1 year low of $47.94 and a 1 year high of $68.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.95 and a 200-day moving average of $56.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.58.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that EQT will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. EQT’s payout ratio is presently 15.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of EQT from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of EQT from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.18.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company primarily develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, with a focus on natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

EQT’s products include natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate. Its operations span drilling, well completion, production and related gathering activities, supporting the delivery of energy to utilities, industrial customers, marketers and other buyers.