Shell Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 30,798 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 337% compared to the average volume of 7,051 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SHEL. TD Securities increased their price objective on Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Shell from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Shell from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHEL. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Shell by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,532 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Shell by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,087,703 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,872,666,000 after acquiring an additional 6,554,340 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Shell by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 109,843 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,228,000 after purchasing an additional 6,138 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 633,287 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $40,771,000 after purchasing an additional 62,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Shell by 16.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 71,350 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,594,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

Shell stock opened at $72.98 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.09. Shell has a 12-month low of $55.78 and a 12-month high of $73.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $234.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.688 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

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.