Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.11.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SHEL. Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE SHEL opened at $66.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.79. The firm has a market cap of $202.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

About Shell

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.