Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $49.00 price target on the stock.

EQNR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Equinor ASA from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Equinor ASA from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.47.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of EQNR opened at $44.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $105.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 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 has a fifty-two week low of $22.26 and a fifty-two week high of $45.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.33.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $34.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.03 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 23.60%. Analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,913,000. Gibbs Wealth Management bought a new position in Equinor ASA during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,189,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Equinor ASA during the second quarter valued at approximately $893,000. GTS Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the second quarter worth approximately $2,162,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 24.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 182,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,722,000 after purchasing an additional 36,122 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.