JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 2,137,642 Shares of Equinor ASA $EQNR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 1,437.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,137,642 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $55,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Equinor ASA by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the first quarter valued at about $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 1.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the first quarter worth about $816,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,438 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQNR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Pareto Securities raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Equinor ASA stock opened at $29.13 on Thursday. 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 has a 12-month low of $21.41 and a 12-month high of $29.39. The company has a market cap of $85.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.56.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.31 billion. Research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.21%.

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.