Forefront Wealth Management Inc. Buys Shares of 35,986 Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 35,986 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,255,000. Shell makes up 2.1% of Forefront Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SHEL. Foster Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.2% in the fourth 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. RHS Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 3.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 3,632 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $71.08 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.26. The company has a market capitalization of $214.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. 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 plc has a 1 year low of $60.15 and a 1 year high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SHEL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised 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 note on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced 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. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.48.

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.