Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sees Large Volume Increase

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 1,124,950 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the previous session’s volume of 3,573,880 shares.The stock last traded at $26.98 and had previously closed at $27.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EQNR shares. DZ Bank cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Equinor ASA from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $85.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.72.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $29.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 11.09%. Analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 25.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.