Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Downgraded to Market Perform Rating by Sanford C. Bernstein

Key Points

• Equinor ASA has been downgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• The company has received mixed ratings from various analysts, with three analysts rating it as a Buy, while seven rated it as Sell, leading to a consensus rating of "Reduce."
• Equinor ASA recently reported earnings of $0.64 per share, missing estimates, but achieved revenue of $25.12 billion, exceeding expectations of $23.88 billion.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report issued on Friday,Finviz reports.

EQNR has been the topic of several other reports. Pareto Securities cut shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DZ Bank cut shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Equinor ASA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Equinor ASA from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of EQNR stock opened at $22.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.52. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $24.45 and its 200 day moving average is $24.58. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $21.41 and a 12 month high of $28.26.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.02). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 7.60%.The firm had revenue of $25.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.88 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,100,331 shares of the company's stock worth $304,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,143,049 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 8,986.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,260,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,203 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 113.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,804,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,630,000 after acquiring an additional 572,193 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 140.4% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 570,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,346,000 after acquiring an additional 333,233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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