Analysts Set Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Price Target at $79.11

Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.48.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SHEL. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,560 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 4,028 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Shell by 1.5% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,125,284 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $206,116,000 after buying an additional 46,293 shares during the period. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Shell by 266.1% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 122,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 88,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

SHEL stock opened at $71.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.26. 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 stock has a market cap of $214.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. Shell has a one year low of $60.15 and a one year high of $74.61.

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

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Shell’s payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

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.