O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 72.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 322,738 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 135,883 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $7,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EQNR. Folketrygdfondet boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.0% during the fourth 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. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Equinor ASA by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,751,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,019,000 after purchasing an additional 132,157 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 557,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,207,000 after buying an additional 34,720 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth $9,043,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 259,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,148,000 after buying an additional 13,677 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on EQNR shares. HSBC upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. DZ Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Pareto Securities upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Danske raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.10.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQNR opened at $26.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $75.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $21.85 and a one year high of $29.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 37.30%.

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.