Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQNR. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Pareto Securities upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 2.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $85.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted 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 return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 4.74%.The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. Analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,794.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the second quarter worth $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 119.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

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.