Wall Street Zen Upgrades Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) to “Strong-Buy”

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Equinor ASA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Equinor ASA from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.20.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQNR opened at $44.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.81. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $22.26 and a 52 week high of $45.54. The stock has a market cap of $107.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.03.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.06). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 23.60% and a net margin of 7.92%.The business had revenue of $34.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.03 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Equinor ASA by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 112,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the first quarter valued at approximately $816,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 50.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company also supplies crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products and electricity, and participates in energy trading and related activities.

Equinor has expanded beyond its traditional petroleum business into lower-carbon energy, including offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen-related projects. Its operations and partnerships span several regions, with significant activities on the Norwegian continental shelf as well as projects in Europe, North America, South America and other international markets.

The company was established in 1972 as Den norske stats oljeselskap, commonly known as Statoil, and adopted the name Equinor in 2018 to reflect its broader energy strategy.