Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at BNP Paribas Exane

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) was downgraded by equities researchers at BNP Paribas Exane from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Shell from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Shell from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Scotiabank raised shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Shell from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Shell from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.90.

Shell Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Shell stock opened at $87.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Shell has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $94.90. The company has a market capitalization of $248.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.34.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The energy company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $64.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.82 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 6.52%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,445,346 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $103,386,000 after buying an additional 167,983 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 596,972 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,701,000 after buying an additional 3,084 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 316,216 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $23,236,000 after buying an additional 677,746 shares during the period. Allied Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 196,452 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $14,435,000 after buying an additional 4,720 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Shell by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 180,630 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $13,273,000 after buying an additional 42,129 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Shell

Shell plc (NYSE: SHEL) is a global integrated energy company that operates across the full oil and gas value chain as well as in developing lower-carbon energy solutions. The company traces its roots to the early 20th century merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading, and today it is organized to explore for and produce hydrocarbons, process and refine them, manufacture petrochemicals, and market fuel, lubricants and related products under the Shell brand around the world.

Shell’s principal activities include upstream exploration and production of oil and natural gas, integrated gas operations including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and downstream refining, supply and marketing.