National Bank of Canada FI Makes New Investment in Equinor ASA $EQNR

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI acquired 40,222 shares of Equinor ASA valued at approximately $1,064,000 in the first quarter.
• Equinor ASA reported earnings of $0.64 per share, missing estimates, with revenues of $25.12 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.304 per share, with a yield of 496.0%, to be paid on August 29th.

National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,120,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $205,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 547,576 shares of the company's stock worth $13,870,000 after acquiring an additional 141,949 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $909,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 68,791 shares of the company's stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 15,910 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Equinor ASA from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut Equinor ASA from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.70 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Pareto Securities cut Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut Equinor ASA from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

EQNR stock traded down $0.5960 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.8240. 3,517,706 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,160,159. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $25.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.45. The stock has a market cap of $70.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.59. Equinor ASA has a fifty-two week low of $21.41 and a fifty-two week high of $28.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $25.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.88 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 7.60%. Research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.304 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 496.0%. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is currently 40.53%.

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.