Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.6133.

EQNR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Pareto Securities cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:EQNR opened at $39.48 on Tuesday. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $22.26 and a 52 week high of $43.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.36 and a 200 day moving average of $29.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.07.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.47. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 20.01%. The company had revenue of $28.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.73 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the third quarter worth $730,757,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 599.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,966,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,194,000 after acquiring an additional 11,112,362 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659,611 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,642 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the third quarter worth $21,366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

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.