Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.25.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQNR. DZ Bank cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

EQNR opened at $27.70 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $24.44 and a twelve month high of $34.73. The company has a market capitalization of $86.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a PEG ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 0.85.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. Equities analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 558.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Company 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.