Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Price Target Raised to $81.00 at TD Securities

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) had its price target lifted by TD Securities from $74.00 to $81.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

Separately, TheStreet raised Shell from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $66.50.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SHEL traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,676,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,698,273. Shell has a twelve month low of $55.78 and a twelve month high of $73.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.01. The company has a market cap of $234.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The energy company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $80.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.59 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 13.83%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Shell will post 8.22 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.688 per share. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. United Community Bank boosted its stake in Shell by 4.4% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 3,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in Shell by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its stake in shares of Shell by 0.6% in the first quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 26,743 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Shell by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,907 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 4.4% in the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.