Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $45.62 and last traded at $44.4850, with a volume of 4111074 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EQNR shares. Zacks Research lowered Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Equinor ASA from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.20.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $105.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.70 and its 200 day moving average is $38.14.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.06). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 23.60% and a net margin of 7.92%.The company had revenue of $34.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 599.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,966,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,194,000 after buying an additional 11,112,362 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the 1st quarter worth $8,745,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth $8,582,000. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth $4,544,000. Finally, DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the first quarter valued at about $2,913,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company also supplies crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products and electricity, and participates in energy trading and related activities.

Equinor has expanded beyond its traditional petroleum business into lower-carbon energy, including offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen-related projects. Its operations and partnerships span several regions, with significant activities on the Norwegian continental shelf as well as projects in Europe, North America, South America and other international markets.

The company was established in 1972 as Den norske stats oljeselskap, commonly known as Statoil, and adopted the name Equinor in 2018 to reflect its broader energy strategy.