Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Buys Shares of 2,751 Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,751 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Shell by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 2,545 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Shell by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,311 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Certuity LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 10,681 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its stake in Shell by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 7,458 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.26.

Shell Price Performance

NYSE SHEL opened at $71.43 on Friday. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $58.55 and a 12-month high of $74.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.69 and its 200-day moving average is $66.00. The company has a market capitalization of $213.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.39. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.18 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.