Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV Takes Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,719 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,000. Shell accounts for about 1.3% of Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Shell by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 184,919 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,195,000 after buying an additional 18,725 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Shell by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,324 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter worth about $671,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Shell by 29.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,773,617 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $248,870,000 after buying an additional 866,954 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in Shell by 25.6% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,030 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after buying an additional 4,085 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Performance

Shell stock opened at $73.32 on Tuesday. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.15 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHEL has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.10.

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.