Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $38.27, but opened at $35.17. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $34.8620, with a volume of 1,995,594 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $34.61.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 8.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $103.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.81 and its 200-day moving average is $27.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $25.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.31 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. On average, analysts anticipate 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, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is 67.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,314,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,741,000 after buying an additional 2,137,642 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at about $21,366,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 2.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,827,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,550,000 after buying an additional 39,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 100.8% in the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 515,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,569,000 after buying an additional 258,767 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway’s petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor’s operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low‑carbon energy.