Equinor ASA Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EQNR)

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 5,378 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 107% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,598 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQNR. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 28.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 5,804 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 522,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,242,000 after acquiring an additional 16,303 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 64,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,198 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 23,213 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.9% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 26,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Equinor ASA stock opened at $25.62 on Wednesday. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $21.85 and a 1 year high of $29.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.16. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 8.49%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 37.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Pareto Securities upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Nordea Equity Research raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equinor ASA from $30.90 to $28.20 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.10.

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.