Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 6,872,117 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 81% from the previous session’s volume of 3,794,214 shares.The stock last traded at $23.04 and had previously closed at $23.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQNR. DZ Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Danske raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. Analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is 35.89%.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 39.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 54,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 15,419 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 2.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 52.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after buying an additional 24,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 363.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.