Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Short Interest Up 15.2% in April

Key Points

• Short interest up 15.2% — short interest rose to 20,500,740 shares as of April 15, representing about 0.7% of the stock and a short-interest ratio (days to cover) of 2.9.
• Dividend increased — Equinor raised its quarterly dividend to $0.39 ($1.56 annualized) for a yield of 3.8%, with an ex-dividend date of May 15 and a payout ratio around 64%.
• Earnings beat but mixed analyst view — the company reported $0.81 EPS vs. $0.60 expected and $25.26B revenue vs. $21.31B expected, yet MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $34.61.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 20,500,740 shares, a growth of 15.2% from the March 31st total of 17,791,726 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,071,248 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Equinor ASA by 30.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company's stock worth $384,227,000 after buying an additional 3,659,611 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,741,000 after buying an additional 2,137,642 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at $21,366,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter valued at $16,217,000. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 1.9%

Equinor ASA stock opened at $40.82 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $21.96 and a 1 year high of $43.46. The firm's 50-day moving average is $36.83 and its 200-day moving average is $28.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $120.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.13.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $25.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.31 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. On average, equities analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Equinor ASA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research raised Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $40.40 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $34.61.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

Equinor ASA NYSE: EQNR is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway's petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor's operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low‑carbon energy.

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