Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.39 Per Share

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is a 5.4% increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Equinor ASA has increased its dividend by an average of 0.3%annually over the last three years. Equinor ASA has a payout ratio of 39.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equinor ASA to earn $3.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.21 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.8%.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQNR traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,701,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,701,524. The firm has a market cap of $81.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $21.41 and a one year high of $28.26.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Pareto Securities raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.71.

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.