The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 391,902 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,100,353 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 391,902 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in EQT were worth $76,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in EQT by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,348,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $752,487,000 after acquiring an additional 464,781 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter worth $562,494,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of EQT by 2.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 9,084,686 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $335,952,000 after buying an additional 253,186 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in EQT by 28.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,013,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $183,678,000 after buying an additional 1,108,134 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in EQT by 19.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,224,784 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $156,243,000 after buying an additional 697,824 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $45.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.92 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. EQT Co. has a 12-month low of $30.02 and a 12-month high of $48.02.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.06. EQT had a return on equity of 3.74% and a net margin of 5.52%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. EQT’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. EQT’s payout ratio is 75.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on EQT. Piper Sandler raised their price target on EQT from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of EQT from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of EQT from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.67.

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.