Equinor ASA (EQNR) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 15th

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th.

Equinor ASA has increased its dividend by an average of 71.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Equinor ASA has a payout ratio of 112.1% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Equinor ASA to earn $3.15 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $3.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 114.3%.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of EQNR stock opened at $26.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $24.44 and a twelve month high of $34.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.27.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.35 billion. On average, analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EQNR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 42.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,186,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,086,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052,907 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,819,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,210,930 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the 1st quarter valued at $20,472,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Equinor ASA by 78.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,147,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,045,000 after buying an additional 504,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.