Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Short Interest Up 7.5% in December

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,270,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the December 15th total of 14,200,000 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

NYSE:EQNR traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,389,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,144,319. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $21.85 and a twelve month high of $29.49. The stock has a market cap of $69.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.16. 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 (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 19.97%. The business had revenue of $25.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $245,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Equinor ASA by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 157,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after acquiring an additional 59,254 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $317,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,253,000. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQNR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equinor ASA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $25.80 to $30.90 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.