Moody’s ups EQT to investment grade

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded EQT Corp.’s senior unsecured notes ratings to Baa3 from Ba1. Moody's concurrently withdrew EQT's Ba1 corporate family rating, Ba1-PD probability of default rating and SGL-1 speculative grade liquidity rating.

The agency changed EQT’s outlook to stable from positive.

"The upgrade to Baa3 reflects the considerable deleveraging EQT has achieved since late 2021, its improved capital efficiency and the expectation for continued debt reduction through 2024, aided by attractively priced hedges on a substantial amount of its natural gas production over the next 12 months," said John Thieroff, a Moody's senior credit officer, in a press statement.

"The recently completed acquisition of the upstream assets of THQ Appalachia I, LLC's (Tug Hill) and gathering and processing assets of THQ-XcL Holdings I, LLC (XcL Midstream) from Quantum Energy Partners further enhances EQT's scale in its core Southwest Appalachia operations and provides greater cash flow durability," Thieroff added.

The stable outlook is based on an expectation that EQT will continue emphasizing debt reduction to hit its $3.5 billion debt target “expeditiously.”

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