Columbia Asset Management Trims Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Columbia Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,112 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 6,575 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Shell were worth $2,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. grew its holdings in Shell by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in Shell by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Shell by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, RHS Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Shell by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. RHS Financial LLC now owns 5,667 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SHEL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.10.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $73.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $220.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.94 and its 200 day moving average is $66.50. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $60.15 and a 52 week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.97%.

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.