Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $25.67, but opened at $25.02. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $25.11, with a volume of 534,167 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQNR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $25.80 to $30.90 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 0.5 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.65, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.45 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 19,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 81,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.