Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,610,000 shares, a drop of 6.9% from the January 15th total of 14,620,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQNR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Equinor ASA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $25.80 to $30.90 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.45.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 254.5% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EQNR traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $23.16. 6,699,125 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,528,059. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $21.85 and a 12 month high of $29.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 8.49%. Analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 37.62%.

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.