Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.67, but opened at $23.62. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $23.61, with a volume of 1,775,125 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.80 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upgraded shares of Equinor ASA to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Equinor ASA to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.90.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $66.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.45 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 19.97%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Equinor ASA by 2,359.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,783,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,511 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,865,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,485,000 after buying an additional 166,131 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,751,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,019,000 after acquiring an additional 132,157 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1.4% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 862,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,635,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC grew its position in Equinor ASA by 3.9% during the second quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 572,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,343,000 after acquiring an additional 21,469 shares during the period. 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.