Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.7133.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EQNR shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Equinor ASA in a report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Equinor ASA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 1.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 37,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 1.8% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 24,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQNR opened at $29.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.56. Equinor ASA has a fifty-two week low of $21.41 and a fifty-two week high of $29.39. The company has a market capitalization of $85.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current 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 represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 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.