Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on EQNR. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Equinor ASA from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.20.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of EQNR opened at $44.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $106.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $22.26 and a 1 year high of $45.62.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.06). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 23.60% and a net margin of 7.92%.The firm had revenue of $34.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.03 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 36,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,195,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 8,136 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter valued at $301,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company also supplies crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products and electricity, and participates in energy trading and related activities.

Equinor has expanded beyond its traditional petroleum business into lower-carbon energy, including offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen-related projects. Its operations and partnerships span several regions, with significant activities on the Norwegian continental shelf as well as projects in Europe, North America, South America and other international markets.

The company was established in 1972 as Den norske stats oljeselskap, commonly known as Statoil, and adopted the name Equinor in 2018 to reflect its broader energy strategy.