KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $6.10 Million in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 132,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,096,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of EQT by 71.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of EQT by 33.9% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 75,051 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 19,013 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in EQT by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 14,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in EQT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in EQT by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 12,480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stephens raised shares of EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho raised shares of EQT from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut shares of EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of EQT from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

EQT Stock Up 0.5 %

EQT stock opened at $54.25 on Wednesday. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $56.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.40 and a 200-day moving average of $44.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 135.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EQT Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.50%.

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.