Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.11.

Several research analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the third quarter worth about $121,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Shell by 4.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 306,491 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $20,213,000 after purchasing an additional 13,904 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the third quarter worth about $207,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 45.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,181 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 5,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Shell by 3.8% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 21,851 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of Shell stock opened at $66.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $60.15 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.89 and a 200 day moving average of $66.79.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, research analysts predict that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.97%.

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.