Shell Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 117,841 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,445% compared to the average volume of 7,626 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research cut Shell from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas raised Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Shell from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $78.30 price target (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.91.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE:SHEL traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $75.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,187,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,502,575. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $220.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.16. Shell has a 12-month low of $58.54 and a 12-month high of $77.47.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The energy company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $68.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.50 billion. Shell had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 10.67%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Argent Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Shell by 3.3% during the third quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 4,717 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Shell by 6.1% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 2,653 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in Shell by 50.5% during the second quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 480 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Shell by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory boosted its position in shares of Shell by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,572 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

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.