Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Equinor ASA from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of EQNR opened at $26.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.84. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $24.44 and a twelve month high of $34.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.17.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.93 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.1%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth $840,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 22,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $724,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 37,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.