Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Stock Dropped to Underweight by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Morningstar downgraded shares of Equinor ASA to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.47.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of EQNR stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,381,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,569,068. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.21 and a 200-day moving average of $37.90. The stock has a market cap of $100.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.12. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $22.26 and a twelve month high of $49.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.18). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 27.45% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $32.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.30 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the first quarter valued at about $2,913,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the second quarter worth about $893,000. GTS Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the second quarter worth about $2,162,000. XY Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the second quarter worth about $823,000. Finally, Gibbs Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the first quarter worth about $1,189,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Founded in 1972 as the state-owned Den Norske Stats Oljeselskap, it later operated as Statoil before adopting the Equinor name in 2018. The Norwegian state remains its majority owner.

The company’s core business is the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas, with a substantial focus on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Equinor also markets and trades energy products and operates across international markets, including in Europe and North America.

Alongside its oil and gas activities, Equinor develops renewable energy projects, particularly offshore wind, and pursues lower-carbon energy solutions.