Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Sells 959 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. trimmed its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,860 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 959 shares during the period. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shell by 930.2% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shell Price Performance

SHEL opened at $66.67 on Friday. Shell plc has a 1 year low of $60.15 and a 1 year high of $74.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.81. The firm has a market cap of $202.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHEL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average 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.