Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Down 3.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Shares of Equinor ASA fell 3.1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating, trading as low as $24.23.
• The stock has received multiple downgrades from various analysts, with ratings ranging from Buy to Sell, and currently has an average rating of "Reduce" with a target price of $22.71.
• Equinor ASA reported a quarterly earnings miss of $0.02 and a revenue of $25.12 billion, exceeding estimates but indicating potential concerns regarding profitability.

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) fell 3.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating. The company traded as low as $24.23 and last traded at $24.00. 371,727 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 4,075,198 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.78.

EQNR has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $26.44 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $22.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQNR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth about $909,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $444,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Equinor ASA by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 83,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,315 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Equinor ASA by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 851,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,168,000 after purchasing an additional 331,684 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Equinor ASA by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 132,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $70.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.57. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $25.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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

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.

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