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

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 20,500,740 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the March 31st total of 17,791,726 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,071,248 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EQNR shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. DZ Bank raised Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $34.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter worth about $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in 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 worth $384,227,000 after buying an additional 3,659,611 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,741,000 after buying an additional 2,137,642 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA during the third quarter valued at about $21,366,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth about $16,217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 1.9%

EQNR stock opened at $40.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $120.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.13. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $21.96 and a 12 month high of $43.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.70.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 4.74%.The company had revenue of $25.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.31 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Equinor ASA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is presently 64.21%.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway’s petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor’s operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low?carbon energy.