Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Equinor ASA from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.20.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

NYSE EQNR opened at $44.77 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $22.26 and a one year high of $45.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.01 and a 200 day moving average of $37.75. The company has a market capitalization of $107.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the first quarter worth $2,913,000. Gibbs Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter valued at $1,189,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 182,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,722,000 after buying an additional 36,122 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter worth $2,162,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter worth $893,000. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.