Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,000 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Shell by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 65,298,943 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,306,465,000 after buying an additional 3,255,347 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,530,647 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,617,796,000 after purchasing an additional 507,311 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,972,945 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $408,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,637 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,282,868 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $348,405,000 after purchasing an additional 422,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,773,617 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $248,870,000 after purchasing an additional 866,954 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

NYSE:SHEL opened at $65.96 on Thursday. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $60.15 and a 52 week high of $74.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.68.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $72.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.58 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 5.17%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Shell plc will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.688 dividend. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Shell from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised Shell to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Shell from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.69.

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.