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

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

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

EQNR opened at $23.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.67 billion, a PE ratio of 7.45, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.83. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $21.85 and a twelve month high of $29.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.69. 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 (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 8.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 19,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Pareto Securities raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Nordea Equity Research raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Equinor ASA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.45.

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.