Avalon Trust Co Makes New $41,000 Investment in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQNR. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 558.9% in the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Equinor ASA in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 1.6 %

EQNR stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,579,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,034,641. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.21. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $24.44 and a twelve month high of $34.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.85.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 19.67%. The company had revenue of $29.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.35 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.34%.

Equinor ASA Profile

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.