Westpac Banking Corp Sells 4,955 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 63.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,872 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,955 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in EQT were worth $132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EQT. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of EQT by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in EQT by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 976 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in EQT by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,731 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in EQT by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,265 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in EQT by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,719 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “reduce” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.28.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE:EQT opened at $46.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.06, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.25 and a 200 day moving average of $45.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. EQT Co. has a 1-year low of $30.02 and a 1-year high of $56.66.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 157.50%.

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.