Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $25.80 to $30.90 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 2.2 %

Equinor ASA stock opened at $23.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $21.85 and a 52 week high of $29.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQNR. Folketrygdfondet lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,640,631,000 after buying an additional 4,300,472 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth about $9,043,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth about $6,203,000. Drum Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth about $4,023,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth about $3,685,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.