Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.25.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Folketrygdfondet raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 107,959,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,415,854,000 after acquiring an additional 917,330 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC bought a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,931,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,284,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,241,000 after acquiring an additional 444,435 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,045,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,105,000 after acquiring an additional 295,162 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,432,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,596,000 after acquiring an additional 285,662 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

NYSE EQNR opened at $27.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $86.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57, a PEG ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.48. Equinor ASA has a 12-month low of $24.44 and a 12-month high of $34.73.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.35 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.78% and a net margin of 9.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.34%.

About Equinor ASA

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.