Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Overweight” Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell (NYSE:SHEL) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $79.80 price objective on the energy company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $66.50.

SHEL has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Shell from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upgraded Shell to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.83.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL opened at $64.68 on Tuesday. Shell has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $199.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.12.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.688 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 6.4% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 3,741 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Foresight Global Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,472,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 1.5% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,125,284 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $206,116,000 after buying an additional 46,293 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Shell by 11.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 292,587 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $21,119,000 after buying an additional 29,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Shell by 8.7% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,282,868 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $348,405,000 after acquiring an additional 422,329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Company Profile

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market.