Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,020,000 shares, an increase of 39.8% from the January 31st total of 13,610,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQNR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Danske upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Pareto Securities upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 upgraded 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 given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.45.

Equinor ASA Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Equinor ASA stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $22.46. 3,291,940 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,509,651. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.40. The stock has a market cap of $62.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.83. Equinor ASA has a fifty-two week low of $21.85 and a fifty-two week high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is presently 37.30%.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 1,009.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

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.