EQT Sets July Meeting, Ignores Activist Pleas for April Vote (1)

EQT Corp. set its annual meeting for July 10, ignoring requests from at least one top shareholder to hold it sooner, as the natural gas producer faces a possible proxy battle for management changes.

Shareholders need ample time to evaluate some of the changes that the company plans to implement this year to increase its value, the Pittsburgh-based driller said in a statement Wednesday.

D.E. Shaw, which owns 4.5 percent of the company, last month urged EQT to hold its meeting in April so investors could vote on demands of an activist campaign launched by Derek and Toby Rice, whose ...