Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,493 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on SHEL shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.35.

Shell Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:SHEL opened at $66.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.85. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $58.55 and a 1-year 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.18 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.90%.

Shell declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Shell 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.