We recently published a list of Top 12 Extreme Value Stocks to Invest In Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) stands against other top extreme value stocks to invest in right now.
Are Value Stocks About to Overtake Growth Stocks?
On March 11, Chris Grisanti, MAI Capital Management chief market strategist, joined CNBC for an interview to talk about the recent developments in the market. He noted that the growth stocks tend to go up and down really quickly, what a lot of investors miss while investing is that along with choosing a good company you also have to choose a good entry price. This has been the case for the last 7 years as the valuations have gotten out of control as the growth stocks have largely outperformed value stocks. Grisanti believes that now the market is going back to the point where the value stocks will take over the growth sector.
Grisanti thinks something different is happening in terms of the current market slowdown. He does not think that this downturn is due to over exuberance. Grisanti explained that over the past years the norm has been that the tech stocks get ahead and later pull the market down a bit towards a natural and healthier price correction. This is different as per the chief market strategist, currently there are economically sensitive stocks leading the way down. We have banks, airlines, financials, and the industrials tanking. He pointed out that this is the first time in 3 years that the market is telling the fears of an economic slowdown. Moreover, Grisanti further explained that usually the market can fall on irrational fears however become self fulfilling automatically. However, the current slowdown seems different from the usual scenarios.
Through the first two months of 2025, the market has been mediocre and the Mag Seven were down slightly. However, the banks were up high single digits and the airlines were also up. Now, it has all turned around, tech continues to go down and has been joined by the economically sensitive sectors as well, which is a “Yellow Signal” for the market. Grisanti likes stocks that are trading cheaper than the market and he thinks it is not a bad time to start selecting companies that are cheap and can meet the earnings expectations.
Our Methodology
To curate the list of top 12 extreme value stocks to invest in right now, we used the Finviz stock screener, Seeking Alpha, and Yahoo Finance as our sources. Using the screener we aggregated a list of value stocks trading between a forward P/E of 5 t0 10, with earnings expected to grow in the current and next year. Next, after sorting the list by market capitalization we cross checked the forward P/E of each stock from Seeking Alpha and expected earnings growth from Yahoo Finance. Lastly, we ranked the list in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders, as of Q4 2024. Please note that the data was recorded on March 12, 2025.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A worker in a hard hat standing in front of a giant oil refinery, the stark blue sky and grey refinery in the background.
Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)
Forward P/E Ratio: 6.63
Earnings Growth This Year: 11.42%
Earnings Growth Next Year: 5.31%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20
Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) is an international energy company based in Norway. It turns natural resources into energy, with core business activities rooted in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. It sells crude oil and delivers natural gas to the European market.
On March 7, Lydia Rainforth from Barclays maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of NOK400. During the fiscal third quarter of 2024, the company delivered strong production, especially from the NCS, contributing significantly to results. They expect to maintain production in Norway at a high level of 1.2 million barrels per day until 2035. The company is focused on delivering returns on capital employed above 15% through 2030. Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) anticipates over 10% growth in oil and gas production from 2024 to 2027 and has increased its production outlook to around 2.2 million barrels per day in 2030, up from 2 million in last year’s outlook.
Management noted that the oil demand is expected to remain above 100 million barrels through this decade, and gas demand is expected to increase and stay above today’s level until 2050. As per the management, Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) is positioned to meet this demand. It is one of the extreme-value stocks to invest in right now.
Overall, EQNR ranks 11th on our list of top extreme value stocks to invest in right now. While we acknowledge the potential of EQNR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than EQNR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
