Short Interest in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Declines By 6.3%

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,830,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the August 31st total of 13,690,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 2.6 %

Equinor ASA stock opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.13. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $24.02 and a twelve month high of $34.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.93 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 20.65%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.1%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Equinor ASA from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $30.50 to $25.80 in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1.4% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 862,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,635,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 24,052 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the second quarter valued at about $1,085,000. 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.