Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Short Interest Update

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,760,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 10,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 2.0 %

EQNR traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.73. The stock had a trading volume of 2,454,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,406,385. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.84. Equinor ASA has a 1-year low of $22.15 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $25.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.80 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Equinor ASA to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Equinor ASA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 2,359.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,507,511 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 4.5% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,865,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,485,000 after purchasing an additional 166,131 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Equinor ASA by 3.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,751,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,019,000 after buying an additional 132,157 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake 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 buying an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 3.9% in the second quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 572,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,343,000 after buying an additional 21,469 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.