World Investment Advisors Increases Stock Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 58.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,868 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 3,274 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Shell were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Shell by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,078,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Shell by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $12,521,000 after buying an additional 14,937 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,560 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Shell by 266.1% in the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 122,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 88,700 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on SHEL shares. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.10.

Shell Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $62.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $188.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $68.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.47. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.15 and a 12-month high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.97%.

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.