Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $35.63, but opened at $36.88. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $37.1040, with a volume of 927,713 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Equinor ASA from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.39. The company has a market capitalization of $109.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.06.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.47. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.01% and a net margin of 5.30%.The business had revenue of $28.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.73 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.72%.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQNR. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1,794.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

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.