Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 452 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,000 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 452 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SHEL. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,154,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 37.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,594 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Shell during the third quarter worth approximately $2,552,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Shell by 267.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 230,027 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,170,000 after acquiring an additional 167,502 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Shell by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 105,674 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,969,000 after acquiring an additional 20,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Trading Up 0.5 %

SHEL opened at $62.42 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. Shell plc has a fifty-two week low of $58.55 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, research analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Shell from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.73.

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.