EQT Corp Stock Rises Pre-Market After Firm Closes JV With Blackstone Affiliate: Retail’s Exuberant

EQT Corporation (EQT) shares were in the spotlight on Tuesday morning after the firm announced it had closed its midstream joint venture (JV) with BXCI, an affiliate of Blackstone Credit & Insurance. Shares of EQT closed over 5% higher on Monday and were up 0.52% in Tuesday’s pre-market session.

EQT is a vertically integrated natural gas company with production and midstream operations focused in the Appalachian Basin.

The firm received $3.5 billion of cash consideration, net of transaction fees and expenses, from BXCI for a non-controlling common equity interest in the JV.

The company used the proceeds to pay down its term loan and revolving credit facility and to pay down the bridge term loan facility, which was used to fund the redemption and repurchase of certain senior notes of EQM Midstream Partners, LP.

The JV was announced in late November. Blackstone’s investment of $3.5 billion in the JV implied a valuation of approximately $8.8 billion, or 12x earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).

At the time, the company stated that the JV would provide the firm with a large-scale equity capital solution at an accretive cost of capital.

EQT also retains the rights to growth projects associated with the assets contributed to the JV, including the planned Mountain Valley Pipeline expansion and the MVP Southgate project.

Following the announcement, retail sentiment on Stocktwits climbed into the ‘extremely bullish’ territory (79/100) from ‘neutral’ a day ago, accompanied by ‘high’ message volume.

EQT’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 5:07 a.m. ET on Dec. 31, 2024 | Source: Stocktwits

According to TheFly, in mid-December, Mizuho upgraded EQT shares to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ with a price target of $57, up from $48.

The firm pointed out that commodity market fundamentals suggest going long on natural gas stocks. Still, valuations are more attractive in oil-focused sub-sectors, particularly large-cap exploration and production, Mizuho noted.

Meanwhile, shares of EQT Corp have gained over 19% year-to-date.

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