Morgan Stanley Upgrades Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) to “Overweight”

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $30.90 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $25.80. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.13% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Berenberg Bank raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Equinor ASA to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQNR opened at $25.30 on Tuesday. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $21.85 and a 12 month high of $30.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.66 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $25.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,933,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 52.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after buying an additional 24,052 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Equinor ASA during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,509,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 9.2% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 52.1% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,183,000 after buying an additional 29,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.