Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on EQT (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 31,897 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 70% compared to the average daily volume of 18,756 put options.

Insider Activity at EQT

In related news, EVP J.E.B. Bolen sold 1,422 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.79, for a total value of $75,067.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 69,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,668,165.94. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EQT during the first quarter valued at $248,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in EQT by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 711,712 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $38,027,000 after purchasing an additional 111,282 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of EQT by 21.2% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 23,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,180 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in EQT during the 1st quarter valued at $120,252,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on EQT from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on EQT from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on EQT from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EQT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.43.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT stock traded down $1.12 on Wednesday, reaching $57.40. 2,342,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,183,315. EQT has a 1 year low of $42.27 and a 1 year high of $62.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.99. The company has a market cap of $35.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.62.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 6.88% and a net margin of 22.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that EQT will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from EQT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.