Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $78.98.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Shell from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Trading Down 4.3 %

NYSE:SHEL opened at $59.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $180.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.36. Shell has a 52 week low of $59.01 and a 52 week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.