Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Price Target to $80.00

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SHEL. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.35.

Shell Price Performance

NYSE SHEL opened at $65.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. Shell has a 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its holdings in Shell by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Shell by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in Shell by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.