Short Interest in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Declines By 11.3%

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,200,000 shares, a decrease of 11.3% from the February 29th total of 12,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

NYSE EQNR traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $27.67. The company had a trading volume of 4,602,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,617,954. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $24.44 and a 52 week high of $34.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 0.85.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $29.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 11.09%. Equities research analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQNR. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Equinor ASA from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. DZ Bank downgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen began coverage on Equinor ASA in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.

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.