Hello, and welcome to the EQT Corporation Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Toby Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer of EQT Corporation. Mr. Rice, the floor is yours.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 2026 EQT Corporation Annual Shareholders Meeting. I hereby call this Shareholders Meeting to order. I will now lead us through the business portion of the meeting. The agenda for today's meeting is available on the virtual meeting portal. We will take up the business portion of the meeting in the order set forth in the agenda. After we conclude the business portion of the meeting, I will provide a few brief remarks, followed by the opportunity for a question and answer session. All of the nominees for election to our Board of Directors and all of our Executive Officers are present at today's virtual meeting. Additionally, James Ross, a Partner at Ernst & Young, is also present as a representative of our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young.
The Corporate Secretary, Timothy Lulich, has presented a copy of the notice of the meeting and the affidavit showing that each shareholder of record of the company received by mail either a notice of internet availability of proxy materials or the notice of meeting, proxy statement, and a proxy card as required by law. Based on proxies on file, shareholders present by proxy represent at least 509 million shares, or approximately 81% of all shares entitled to be voted at the meeting, and this constitutes a quorum for the purposes of this meeting. The Board of Directors has appointed Anthony Cardillo, Michael Kahler, and Mike Vallely as Judges of Election. Each is present at the virtual meeting today. The Judges of Election have executed an affidavit under oath with respect to their duties, and the affidavit has been filed with the record of this meeting.
The minutes of the last Annual Meeting of the Shareholders held on April 16th, 2025, are available for shareholders to view on the virtual meeting portal. Let's now proceed with the items to be voted on today. Four items were presented in the proxy statement for shareholder consideration, all of which were proposed by the Board of Directors. Item one is the election of 10 directors nominated by the Board. Each director elected at this meeting will serve a one-year term expiring at the Annual Shareholders Meeting in 2027. The Board recommends a vote for the election of each of the nominees. Item two is an advisory vote to approve the compensation of EQT's Named Executive Officers for 2025. The Board recommends a vote for this proposal. Item three is approval of an amendment to EQT's 2020 Long-Term Incentive Plan. The Board recommends a vote for this proposal.
Item four is ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as EQT's independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. The Board recommends a vote for this proposal. We will now proceed with the voting. The polls are now open. I call for a vote on the director nominees and proposals. Any shareholders present who have not submitted their proxies and wish to vote at this time may do so by clicking the link provided on the virtual meeting portal. If you voted before today's meeting via phone, internet, or mail, there is no need to recast your vote again today. We'll now pause for a moment to allow any shareholders desiring to submit their votes to do so. It is now 9:04 A.M. Eastern Time, and I declare the polls to be closed.
We will now receive the preliminary report of the judges of election who have submitted their report to the Corporate Secretary.
Each of the 10 nominees for election as a director has received a majority of the votes cast. Additionally, each of the other proposals, item two through four, has received a majority of the votes cast. The official vote count will be reported by the company on a Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC.
Thank you. I hereby declare that the 10 nominees listed in the proxy statement have been elected directors of the company, and proposal items two, three, and four have been approved by the shareholders. With the business portion of the meeting now complete, as Chair of the meeting, I declare the 2026 Annual Shareholders Meeting to be officially concluded. Before we move to the question and answer session, I'd like to offer a few brief remarks. 2025 was another year of strong performance for EQT. Our financial results reflected the strength of our integrated model and the discipline of our team. We generated meaningful free cash flow, continued to strengthen our balance sheet, and increased our quarterly dividend by 5%. Just as importantly, we delivered consistent record-setting operational performance, continuing to lower costs, improve efficiencies, and enhance returns.
As we've moved into 2026, the global backdrop has only reinforced the critical role that reliable, affordable energy plays in economic stability and national security. The world is being reminded once again that energy independence isn't optional. It's foundational, and American natural gas sits at the center of that equation, simultaneously driving economic growth and strengthening geopolitical resilience. Looking ahead, our focus remains clear, operational excellence and maximizing the value of this world-class asset base. We believe that by doing so, we're not only creating durable long-term value for our shareholders, but also playing a meaningful role in advancing American energy leadership. I want to thank our shareholders for your continued trust and support. With that, let's move to the question and answer session.
Attendees who joined today's meeting as shareholders may submit a question. To submit a question, please use the dialog box on the left side of the meeting screen on the virtual meeting portal. I would like to remind everyone that questions must address the business and operations of the company, that individual matters or personal grievances not of concern to all shareholders generally will not be addressed in this forum. If your question relates to a subject matter covered by more than one submitted question, we will attempt to address the subject matter in a consolidated response. With that, we'll open the floor to questions. Seeing no outstanding questions, we can conclude the question and answer session.
Thank you for attending today's meeting.
This does conclude today's meeting. You may now disconnect.