Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 703,484 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 11,506 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Shell were worth $44,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Shell in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of SHEL opened at $71.56 on Thursday. Shell plc has a twelve month low of $60.15 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The company has a market capitalization of $216.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.78 and a 200 day moving average of $66.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Securities upped their price target on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.48.

About Shell

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.