Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Upgraded to Buy at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

EQNR has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays upgraded Equinor ASA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. DZ Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQNR traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $24.72. The stock had a trading volume of 7,190,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,381,300. The firm has a market cap of $69.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.83. Equinor ASA has a fifty-two week low of $21.85 and a fifty-two week high of $29.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.94 and a 200-day moving average of $24.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 8.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is 37.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Folketrygdfondet grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,640,631,000 after buying an additional 4,300,472 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter worth $9,043,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at $6,203,000. Drum Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,023,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth about $3,685,000. 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.