EP Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,956 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,757 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SHEL. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,905,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter worth $5,047,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Shell by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 123,284 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,724,000 after buying an additional 3,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its stake in Shell by 244.3% during the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 42,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,631,000 after purchasing an additional 29,800 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Price Performance

SHEL opened at $66.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.84. Shell plc has a 1 year low of $58.55 and a 1 year high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.18 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Shell’s payout ratio is presently 65.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SHEL. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.35.

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.