Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.28, but opened at $23.34. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $23.2850, with a volume of 1,287,083 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 4.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $26.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.26 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 5.27%. As a group, analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 57.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659,611 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 0.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,852,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,923,000 after acquiring an additional 25,250 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 3.4% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,830,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,322,000 after purchasing an additional 124,961 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 17.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,804,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,630,000 after purchasing an additional 572,193 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.