Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Shell (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 20,796 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 148% compared to the average volume of 8,370 call options.

Shell Trading Up 1.5 %

Shell stock opened at $68.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $209.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a PEG 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 has a 1 year low of $60.15 and a 1 year high of $74.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.29.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced 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 return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. On average, equities analysts predict that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SHEL. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shell has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in Shell by 8.3% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,209 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Shell by 14.4% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 2,766 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in Shell by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 143,679 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,476,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its position in Shell by 2.7% during the third quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 10,367 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Shell by 2.5% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Company 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.