Wells Fargo & Company Raises Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Price Target to $88.00

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on SHEL. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Shell to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Shell in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Citigroup raised Shell to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upgraded Shell to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Shell to a moderate buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $68.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $214.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.56. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $60.34 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.86.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $75.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.62 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 5.97%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Shell will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.688 per share. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Community Bank increased its holdings in Shell by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. United Community Bank now owns 3,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 1.3% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 11,097 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 26,743 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 3.2% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 5,074 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.