Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $42.55 and last traded at $42.9810, with a volume of 269047 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQNR has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.40 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $34.61.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.29.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The business had revenue of $25.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. On average, analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the third quarter worth about $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,659,611 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,250,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,600,000 after buying an additional 493,801 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,288,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,338,000 after buying an additional 401,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 0.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,852,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,923,000 after buying an additional 25,250 shares during the period. 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.