Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by SOL Capital Management CO

SOL Capital Management CO lowered its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,828 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Shell were worth $992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shell by 40.8% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Shell by 567.0% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 627 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Stock Down 1.3 %

Shell stock opened at $65.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.36. Shell plc has a twelve month low of $60.15 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted 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 5.17% and a return on equity of 14.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that Shell plc will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 56.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. UBS Group raised shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Shell from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.11.

Shell 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.