Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares gapped down pre-market, opening at $37.82 after a prior close of $41.60; the stock last traded near $39.00 on about 5.4 million shares.
• Analysts are mixed—MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of 'Reduce' with an average price target of $28.71, despite recent upgrades and downgrades from UBS, Pareto, BofA, Jefferies and TD Cowen.
• Equinor reported an earnings beat (EPS $0.81 vs. $0.60) with revenue of $25.3B and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.39 (annualized $1.56, ~4.0% yield).

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $41.60, but opened at $37.82. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $39.00, with a volume of 5,402,746 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EQNR. UBS Group raised shares of Equinor ASA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Pareto Securities upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $28.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.27 and a 200 day moving average of $25.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.35.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.31 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Equinor ASA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,194 shares of the company's stock worth $2,968,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 1st quarter valued at $816,000. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 80.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 149,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,759,000 after buying an additional 66,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

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.

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