Equity Investment Corp Boosts Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,023,439 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,795 shares during the quarter. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Shell were worth $64,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Shell during the third quarter worth $30,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Shell in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE SHEL opened at $67.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $60.15 and a 52 week high of $74.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.70. The firm has a market cap of $205.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SHEL shares. UBS Group raised Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.11.

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.