Stephens Inc. AR Sells 82,386 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 48.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,102 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 82,386 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Shell were worth $5,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Shell during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Shell in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shell by 40.8% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

Shell stock opened at $66.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.29 and a 200-day moving average of $67.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell plc has a 1 year low of $60.15 and a 1 year high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its 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 anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders 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 4.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is 54.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.