Smith Moore & CO. Has $491,000 Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Smith Moore & CO. raised its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 85.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,840 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 3,603 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Shell were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Shell by 930.2% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Trading Down 8.1 %

NYSE SHEL opened at $64.13 on Friday. Shell plc has a 12 month low of $60.15 and a 12 month high of $74.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.53.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued 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, analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SHEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.10.

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.