Eastover Investment Advisors LLC Sells 271 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,695 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Shell comprises 3.7% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $7,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Shell by 930.2% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $66.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $198.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. 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 plc has a 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.81.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.35.

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.