Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $23.19, but opened at $22.61. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $22.53, with a volume of 441,219 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQNR. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.80 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.90.

Equinor ASA Stock Down 2.9 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.13 and a 200-day moving average of $25.86. The company has a market capitalization of $62.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $24.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 27.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 363.5% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.