Verus Capital Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in EQT were worth $318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EQT. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in EQT in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in EQT in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in EQT by 184.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in EQT in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. lifted its position in EQT by 100.8% in the third quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Price Performance

Shares of EQT opened at $48.25 on Friday. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $56.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.82 billion, a PE ratio of 120.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.40.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.19. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Research analysts anticipate that EQT Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. EQT’s payout ratio is 157.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EQT shares. Scotiabank cut shares of EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of EQT in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of EQT from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.39.

Insider Activity

In other EQT news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total transaction of $1,351,803.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 201,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,038,086.64. This trade represents a 13.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

EQT Company Profile

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.