Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was downgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

EQNR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Equinor ASA from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.47.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Equinor ASA stock opened at $42.51 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a 12-month low of $22.26 and a 12-month high of $49.08. The company has a market capitalization of $101.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.82.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $32.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 27.45% and a net margin of 9.71%. On average, research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 2.7% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 0.9% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 28,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 2.0% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 15,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 93.1% during the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 2.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 27,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. Founded in 1972 as Den norske stats oljeselskap, the company was later known as Statoil and StatoilHydro before adopting the Equinor name in 2018. The Norwegian state remains its largest shareholder.

Equinor’s core business is the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil and natural gas, with Norway’s continental shelf serving as its principal operating area. The company also processes and markets energy products and supplies natural gas and crude oil to customers in Europe and other international markets.

In addition to its oil and gas operations, Equinor is developing lower-carbon energy businesses, including offshore wind, solar power, carbon capture and storage, and other renewable energy projects.