Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $29.39 and last traded at $29.2190, with a volume of 648050 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EQNR. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Equinor ASA in a report on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $25.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is 64.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 113.0% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,945,000 after buying an additional 948,609 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 108,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,731,000 after acquiring an additional 25,361 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 140.4% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 570,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,346,000 after acquiring an additional 333,233 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,043.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 16,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,065,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway’s petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor’s operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low‑carbon energy.