Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Receives $22.71 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.7133.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EQNR shares. Zacks Research cut Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of EQNR opened at $22.90 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $21.41 and a one year high of $28.26. The company has a market cap of $67.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.59 and a 200-day moving average of $24.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $26.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.26 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 5.27%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 57.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the third quarter worth about $7,314,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 45.6% in the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 6,840 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,741,000 after buying an additional 2,137,642 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 4.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 877,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,386,000 after buying an additional 38,474 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth about $21,366,000. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equinor ASA

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.