Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank downgraded Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQNR opened at $23.03 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.65. The firm has a market cap of $67.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Equinor ASA has a 1-year low of $21.41 and a 1-year high of $28.26.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.20). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 5.27%.The firm had revenue of $26.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.26 billion. Research analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. This is an increase from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is 57.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,659,611 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 0.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,852,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25,250 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,830,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,322,000 after buying an additional 124,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 17.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,804,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,630,000 after purchasing an additional 572,193 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

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.