StockNews.com Downgrades Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) to Buy

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on EQNR. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $25.80 to $30.90 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Berenberg Bank raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE EQNR opened at $23.58 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.85. The firm has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.83. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $21.85 and a twelve month high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 19.97%. Analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Folketrygdfondet increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,640,631,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300,472 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,751,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,019,000 after purchasing an additional 132,157 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 557,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,207,000 after buying an additional 34,720 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,043,000. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,203,000. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.