ABC Arbitrage SA Acquires 258,767 Shares of Equinor ASA $EQNR

ABC Arbitrage SA raised its stake in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 100.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 515,544 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 258,767 shares during the quarter. Equinor ASA comprises approximately 1.2% of ABC Arbitrage SA’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. ABC Arbitrage SA’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $12,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 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 worth $59,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 378.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 2,429 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EQNR shares. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQNR opened at $27.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.32. The stock has a market cap of $82.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equinor ASA has a fifty-two week low of $21.41 and a fifty-two week high of $28.26.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.31 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 4.74%. Equities analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is 64.21%.

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.