UBS Group Upgrades Shell (NYSE:SHEL) to Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell (NYSE:SHEL) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays raised Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Shell from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised Shell to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.83.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $64.68 on Wednesday. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $60.15 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.50 and a 200-day moving average of $68.15.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.688 dividend. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in Shell by 6.4% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 3,741 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Global Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,472,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Shell by 1.5% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,125,284 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $206,116,000 after acquiring an additional 46,293 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Shell by 11.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 292,587 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $21,119,000 after purchasing an additional 29,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Shell by 8.7% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,282,868 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $348,405,000 after purchasing an additional 422,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

About Shell

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.