Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 6,872,117 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 81% from the previous session’s volume of 3,794,214 shares.The stock last traded at $23.04 and had previously closed at $23.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EQNR. Redburn Atlantic raised Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Danske upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. DZ Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $25.80 to $30.90 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $64.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 19.97%. On average, analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 3.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,751,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,019,000 after acquiring an additional 132,157 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 557,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,207,000 after purchasing an additional 34,720 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,043,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,203,000. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 178,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10,828 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equinor ASA

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.