Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Pareto Securities upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Equinor ASA stock opened at $28.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.35. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $21.41 and a one year high of $28.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 11.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,932,000 after buying an additional 14,913 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the first quarter worth approximately $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth $816,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.