Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,050,000 shares, a decrease of 18.5% from the February 13th total of 6,200,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Shell Stock Performance

SHEL traded up $0.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.56. 5,026,308 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,961,097. The stock has a market cap of $217.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.64 and a 200 day moving average of $66.19. 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 has a 52 week low of $60.15 and a 52 week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shell by 930.2% in the fourth 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. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Shell in the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Shell in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. TD Securities upped their target price on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.48.

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.