Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on EQNR. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $24.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQNR opened at $27.88 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.38. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $21.41 and a 52 week high of $28.26.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $25.30 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, equities analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,659,611 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 948,609 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth $21,366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.