Sarasin & Partners LLP Grows Stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 35.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 547,576 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 141,949 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $13,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 254.5% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 34.1% during the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1,009.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on EQNR shares. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $26.44 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Equinor ASA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Equinor ASA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.70 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 0.6%

Equinor ASA stock opened at $24.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.81. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $21.41 and a 12 month high of $29.03.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.17). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $27.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.16 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.304 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 46.84%.

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.