Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Acquired by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 236.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 445,422 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 313,018 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Shell were worth $27,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foster Group Inc. raised its position in Shell by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. RHS Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Shell by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. RHS Financial LLC now owns 5,667 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP raised its holdings in Shell by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 3,632 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group upgraded Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.10.

Shell Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:SHEL opened at $72.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $220.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.55. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $60.15 and a 52 week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

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.