Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Short Interest Down 18.5% in February

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,050,000 shares, a drop of 18.5% from the February 13th total of 6,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Shell Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SHEL traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $71.48. 1,112,091 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,345,486. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. Shell has a twelve month low of $60.15 and a twelve month high of $74.61. 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 50 day simple moving average of $66.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.22.

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 return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHEL. TD Cowen began coverage on Shell in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Shell by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Shell by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,078,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,560 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Shell by 1.5% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,125,284 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $206,116,000 after acquiring an additional 46,293 shares during the period. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Shell by 266.1% in the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 122,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 88,700 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.