Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Equinor hit a new 52-week high of $34.22 and was last trading around $34.17, up roughly 2.1% on the session.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $0.81 EPS vs. $0.60 forecast and $25.3B revenue vs. $21.31B, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.39 (about a 4.6% yield).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the MarketBeat consensus is a Reduce rating with an average price target of $24.71, even as brokers issued both upgrades and downgrades.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.22 and last traded at $34.1710, with a volume of 1383704 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EQNR. Bank of America lowered Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Equinor ASA from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Pareto Securities upgraded Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $100.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.07.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This is an increase from Equinor ASA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.37%.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQNR. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 120,638 shares of the company's stock worth $2,851,000 after acquiring an additional 4,220 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter valued at $448,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 880,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,816,000 after buying an additional 518,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

About Equinor ASA

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.

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