Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $28.28 and last traded at $28.3910, with a volume of 50098 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America downgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Down 3.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $81.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.38.

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

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 119.2% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 55.6% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently 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.