Banco de Sabadell S.A Lowers Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Banco de Sabadell S.A lessened its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,585 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Banco de Sabadell S.A’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,255,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Shell by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 897,154 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $56,207,000 after acquiring an additional 54,305 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 248.9% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 19,258 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 13,739 shares during the last quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SHEL opened at $71.08 on Friday. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $60.15 and a 1-year high of $74.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.24. 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 posted its 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 return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is 56.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SHEL shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Shell in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. TD Securities lifted their price target on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised 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 target for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Shell has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.