Private Capital Management LLC Buys 1,476 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Private Capital Management LLC grew its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,500 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,476 shares during the quarter. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Shell in the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $67.26 on Friday. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.15 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. 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 (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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 given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.11.

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.