Sandy Spring Bank Increases Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,392 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Shell were worth $7,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Foresight Global Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shell by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Foresight Global Investors Inc. now owns 110,194 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,904,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Shell by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 4,489 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Shell by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,829 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. purchased a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at $668,000. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Shell by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,094 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL opened at $71.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $216.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Research analysts predict that Shell plc 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Securities raised their price objective on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.48.

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.