Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Up to $27.10

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $27.10, but opened at $28.22. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $27.68, with a volume of 6,236,258 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.40 to $28.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 2.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $86.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.59.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.35 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 11.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth approximately $236,000. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 27.6% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,382 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 18.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 44.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 13.0% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 34,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.