Advisors Preferred LLC Invests $1.12 Million in Equinor ASA $EQNR

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 45,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 21.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,100,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,202,000 after buying an additional 2,143,049 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,642 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 113.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,945,000 after acquiring an additional 948,609 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 38.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,141,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,703,000 after purchasing an additional 315,385 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 140.4% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 570,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,346,000 after purchasing an additional 333,233 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of EQNR opened at $28.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.47. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $21.41 and a 52 week high of $29.39. The company has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 3.55 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. Research analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQNR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.71.

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.