Brokerages Set Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) PT at $34.61

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.6133.

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQNR. Weiss Ratings raised Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.40 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter valued at about $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $816,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 50.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of EQNR stock opened at $38.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.13. Equinor ASA has a 52-week low of $21.96 and a 52-week high of $43.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.74 and its 200 day moving average is $28.19. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 4.74%.The business had revenue of $25.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.