Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $47.23 and last traded at $47.7170, with a volume of 97,267 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. SEB Equity Research restated a “sell” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Friday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Equinor ASA from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.47.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $115.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.35.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.06). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 23.60%. The business had revenue of $34.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 5.60 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 0.9% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.5% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 130.2% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. Founded in 1972 as Den norske stats oljeselskap, the company was later known as Statoil and StatoilHydro before adopting the Equinor name in 2018. The Norwegian state remains its largest shareholder.

Equinor’s core business is the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil and natural gas, with Norway’s continental shelf serving as its principal operating area. The company also processes and markets energy products and supplies natural gas and crude oil to customers in Europe and other international markets.

In addition to its oil and gas operations, Equinor is developing lower-carbon energy businesses, including offshore wind, solar power, carbon capture and storage, and other renewable energy projects.