Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.90.

EQNR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $30.50 to $25.80 in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Equinor ASA from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

EQNR stock opened at $27.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.15. The stock has a market cap of $75.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.84. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $24.44 and a one year high of $34.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $25.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.84%.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.