Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,840,000 shares, a growth of 14.8% from the January 15th total of 5,960,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Shell Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SHEL stock opened at $67.16 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.89. The firm has a market cap of $205.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. Shell has a 1-year low of $60.15 and a 1-year high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, analysts predict that Shell will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.11.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Shell during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

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.