Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,210,000 shares, an increase of 62.6% from the February 28th total of 5,050,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen started coverage on Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.10.

Shell Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SHEL stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.74. The company had a trading volume of 6,538,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,169,071. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.42. Shell has a 12 month low of $60.15 and a 12 month high of $74.61. The company has a market cap of $219.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. 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 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, research analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. 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 payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Shell by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Shell by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,560 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Shell by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 46,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Shell by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,521,000 after buying an additional 14,937 shares during the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.