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

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)’s share price 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EQNR shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Pareto Securities raised 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. UBS Group raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $28.71.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $113.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.71.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. On average, analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 64.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQNR. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 37,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 5.0% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in Equinor ASA by 1.8% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 24,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. 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.