Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Short Interest Update

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,340,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the April 15th total of 12,010,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Equinor ASA Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE EQNR traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,034,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,631,133. The stock has a market cap of $89.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.85. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $24.44 and a one year high of $34.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $25.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.03 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.30%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is currently 35.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 2,359.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,783,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $183,354,000 after buying an additional 6,507,511 shares during the period. Folketrygdfondet increased its position in Equinor ASA by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 107,959,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,415,854,000 after purchasing an additional 917,330 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,284,862 shares of the company's stock worth $337,241,000 after purchasing an additional 444,435 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,045,722 shares of the company's stock worth $33,105,000 after purchasing an additional 295,162 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,432,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,596,000 after purchasing an additional 285,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

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.