Equinor ASA (EQNR) – Recent Changes in Analyst Ratings

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) has seen some significant updates in its analyst ratings and price targets in the recent past. Updates have come from several credible financial institutions:

• On February 6, 2025, analysts from the Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their rating of "sector perform" for Equinor ASA.
• On the same day, DZ Bank AG upgraded their stance on Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating.
• Also on February 6, analysts from Danske upgraded Equinor ASA from a "hold" to a "buy" rating.
• Pareto Securities made a similar move on February 6, raising their rating from "hold" to "buy" as well.
• Nordea Equity Research also upgraded its rating of Equinor ASA from "hold" to "buy" on February 6, 2025.
• Conversely, StockNews.com downgraded Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating on the same day.
• Prior to this, on January 29, 2025, StockNews.com increased their rating from "buy" to "strong-buy".
• Earlier on January 21, 2025, StockNews.com had downgraded the rating from "strong-buy" to "buy".
• On January 13, 2025, StockNews.com had upgraded it from "buy" to "strong-buy" again.
• On January 7, 2025, Morgan Stanley elevated its rating from "equal weight" to "overweight" with a new price target of $30.90, increased from $25.80.
• In a previous adjustment on January 3, 2025, StockNews.com downgraded from "strong-buy" to "buy".
• Earlier, on December 20, 2024, StockNews.com had upgraded from "buy" to "strong-buy".
• Finally, on December 12, 2024, analysts at StockNews.com downgraded Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. also improved their rating from "underweight" to "overweight" on December 9, 2024.

Recent Price Performance

The stock of Equinor ASA opened at $23.01 on a recent Friday. Over the past year, the stock has reached a low of $21.85 and a high of $29.32. Currently, it holds a fifty-day simple moving average of $23.97 and a two-hundred-day simple moving average of $24.87. Equinor ASA has a market capitalization of $64.25 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 7.06, a P/E to growth (P/E/G) ratio of 1.31, and a beta of 0.83.

Recently, Equinor ASA announced its quarterly earnings on February 5, 2025, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.63. This was below analysts' expectations of $0.82 by a margin of $0.19. The company’s net margin stands at 8.95%, with a return on equity of 19.97%. Analysts predict an EPS of 3.28 for the current year.

Dividend Announcement

Equinor ASA has also declared a quarterly dividend to be distributed on February 28, 2025. Shareholders of record by February 14, 2025, will receive a dividend of $0.35, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.40 and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date is set for February 14, 2025. The current dividend payout ratio for Equinor ASA is 35.89%.

Recent Institutional Activity

Recently, some institutional investors have adjusted their holdings in Equinor ASA. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake by 9.2% in the second quarter, now owning a total of 13,900 shares valued at about $397,000 after adding 1,167 shares.

Cetera Investment Advisers has increased its holdings by 52.7% in the second quarter, now owning 69,718 shares valued at approximately $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 24,052 shares.

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position by 363.5% in the third quarter, acquiring a total of 1,928 shares now worth around $49,000 after adding 1,512 shares.

Ritholtz Wealth Management also raised its stake by 52.3%, now holding 98,556 shares valued at $2,496,000 after a recent addition of 33,844 shares.

Creative Planning increased its stake by 22.2% in the third quarter, now owning 67,058 shares valued at approximately $1,699,000, following the purchase of 12,170 additional shares. Currently, institutional investors and hedge funds own about 5.51% of Equinor ASA stock.

Equinor ASA operates in the energy sector, focusing on the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other energy forms, both in Norway and internationally. The company has various operational segments, including Exploration & Production Norway, Exploration & Production International, Exploration & Production USA, Marketing, Midstream & Processing, Renewables, and Others.

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