Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,519 Shares of Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,597 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Shell by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 86,417,177 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,414,036,000 after buying an additional 21,118,234 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Shell by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,592,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $263,238,000 after buying an additional 15,043 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Shell by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,463,372 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $216,980,000 after buying an additional 2,182,253 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Shell by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,101,330 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $194,298,000 after buying an additional 519,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empyrean Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Shell by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP now owns 2,300,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $144,095,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $71.88 on Thursday. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 52-week low of $58.54 and a 52-week high of $74.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.21 and a 200 day moving average of $67.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.18 billion. Shell had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 11.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Shell presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.69.

Shell 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.