Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Stake Boosted by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,023,173 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,228 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.20% of Shell worth $377,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Shell in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in Shell by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $73.32 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.46. The company has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. Shell plc has a 12 month low of $60.15 and a 12 month high of $74.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. Sell-side analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Shell’s payout ratio is 56.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SHEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.10.

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.