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

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped down before the market opened 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EQNR shares. Pareto Securities cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley cut Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. DZ Bank cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.70. The stock has a market cap of $67.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.20). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 5.27%.The business had revenue of $26.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.26 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at about $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,227,000 after buying an additional 3,659,611 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,642 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 8,986.2% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,260,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,203 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 113.0% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,945,000 after acquiring an additional 948,609 shares in the last quarter. 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.