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

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.7133.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EQNR shares. DZ Bank lowered Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 119.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 55.6% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of EQNR opened at $26.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.27. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $21.41 and a twelve month high of $28.26. The company has a market cap of $79.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.20). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The business had revenue of $26.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.26 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.82%.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

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.