Sarasin & Partners LLP Purchases 141,949 Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

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

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 325.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 3,016 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Pareto Securities raised shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. HSBC raised Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Danske raised Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Nordea Equity Research raised Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of EQNR stock traded down $0.03 on Tuesday, hitting $24.29. 2,906,175 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,605,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $21.41 and a 52 week high of $29.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.82. The firm has a market cap of $67.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.81, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.58.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $27.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.16 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.304 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is 46.84%.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

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.