Equinor ASA $EQNR Position Cut by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd lessened its position in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 66.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,882 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,932,000 after buying an additional 14,913 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the first quarter worth about $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the first quarter worth $816,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 50.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of EQNR opened at $33.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $22.26 and a one year high of $43.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.79.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $28.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.73 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.01% and a net margin of 5.30%. As a group, analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EQNR shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.40 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.70.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway’s petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor’s operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low‑carbon energy.