Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Short Interest Up 39.8% in February

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,020,000 shares, an increase of 39.8% from the January 31st total of 13,610,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 254.5% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,009.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equinor ASA Stock Down 0.2 %

EQNR traded down $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $22.38. The stock had a trading volume of 487,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,369,071. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $62.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.38. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $21.85 and a one year high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is 37.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Equinor ASA from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Pareto Securities upgraded Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Berenberg Bank raised Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Nordea Equity Research raised shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.45.

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.