Short Interest in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Rises By 14.4%

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,010,000 shares, a growth of 14.4% from the March 31st total of 10,500,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 558.9% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EQNR shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. DZ Bank lowered Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of EQNR stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $27.13. The company had a trading volume of 4,269,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,710,695. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $84.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.43. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $24.44 and a 12 month high of $34.73.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.30%. The company had revenue of $29.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

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.