Sarasin & Partners LLP Buys 141,949 Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 35.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 547,576 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,949 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $13,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 254.5% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,009.8% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 325.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQNR. HSBC raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Kepler Capital Markets cut Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut Equinor ASA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.70 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of EQNR opened at $23.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $65.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.81. Equinor ASA has a 1-year low of $21.41 and a 1-year high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $27.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.16 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.304 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.18%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.84%.

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.