Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,124,950 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the previous session’s volume of 3,573,880 shares.The stock last traded at $26.98 and had previously closed at $27.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EQNR shares. Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.40 to $28.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Equinor ASA from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $85.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.41 and a 200 day moving average of $29.72.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $29.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.35 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 42.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,186,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,086,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052,907 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter valued at $55,819,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 47.6% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,752,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,429,000 after buying an additional 1,210,930 shares during the period. Folketrygdfondet lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 107,959,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,415,854,000 after buying an additional 917,330 shares during the period. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,931,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.