Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

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

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

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

NYSE:EQNR opened at $23.03 on Thursday. Equinor ASA has a 1-year low of $21.41 and a 1-year high of $28.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $26.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.26 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 5.27%. Analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is presently 57.82%.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter worth about $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,659,611 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,642 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 113.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,945,000 after purchasing an additional 948,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,366,000. 5.51% of the stock is 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.