Short Interest in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Declines By 12.6%

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,100,000 shares, a decline of 12.6% from the September 30th total of 11,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE EQNR traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.77. The stock had a trading volume of 3,342,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,262,084. The company has a market capitalization of $69.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.48. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $34.21.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.45 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $794,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 228.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 161,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,369,000 after purchasing an additional 112,438 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased 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 during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 90.1% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 44,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 21,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $670,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Equinor ASA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Equinor ASA from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Equinor ASA to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.90.

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.