Short Interest in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Declines By 6.9%

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,610,000 shares, a decrease of 6.9% from the January 15th total of 14,620,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EQNR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Pareto Securities raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Equinor ASA stock opened at $23.16 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Equinor ASA has a 12-month low of $21.85 and a 12-month high of $29.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.69.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. Analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth $1,933,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the third quarter worth $2,509,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 52.1% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after buying an additional 29,516 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Equinor ASA by 11.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 94,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after buying an additional 9,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parametrica Management Ltd purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at $724,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

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.