Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $48.75, but opened at $46.31. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $46.1610, with a volume of 1,402,595 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EQNR shares. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, July 24th. SEB Equity Research restated a “sell” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.47.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $109.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.12.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $32.96 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQNR. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 599.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,966,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,194,000 after acquiring an additional 11,112,362 shares during the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 414,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,776,000 after purchasing an additional 103,197 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 220,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,290,000 after purchasing an additional 38,522 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,745,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the first quarter valued at $8,582,000. Institutional investors 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.