Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Receives $29.45 Average PT from Brokerages

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.45.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EQNR. DZ Bank raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised Equinor ASA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $25.80 to $30.90 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of Equinor ASA stock opened at $24.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $67.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $21.85 and a 12 month high of $29.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.22.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is presently 37.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Folketrygdfondet boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,640,631,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300,472 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,151,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,340,000 after purchasing an additional 399,861 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,121,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,636,000 after purchasing an additional 188,709 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 3,159.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,649,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 958.7% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,447,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,812 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently 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.