Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Buy by The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy rating on Shell, while analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $107.08.
• Shell shares slipped 0.7% to $104.25 on Monday. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $3.86 beat estimates of $3.60, though revenue came in below expectations.
• Shell’s board approved a $5 billion share repurchase program, allowing buybacks of up to 1.7% of outstanding shares.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on SHEL. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Shell from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Shell from $105.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $81.60 to $101.30 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.08.

Shell Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:SHEL traded down $0.69 on Monday, hitting $104.25. 5,530,410 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,882,503. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $98.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.33. Shell has a 52 week low of $68.63 and a 52 week high of $109.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $298.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.10.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The energy company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.60 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $92.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.25 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, analysts expect that Shell will post 11.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 29th that allows the company to repurchase $5 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 1.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,709,715 shares of the energy company's stock worth $597,811,000 after acquiring an additional 146,988 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Shell by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,352,694 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $182,425,000 after purchasing an additional 171,873 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Shell by 1.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,073,265 shares of the energy company's stock worth $83,221,000 after purchasing an additional 16,244 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 300.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 840,770 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $65,193,000 after purchasing an additional 630,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.2% in the second quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 776,654 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $59,445,000 after purchasing an additional 38,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

About Shell

Shell plc is a global energy company headquartered in London, England. Its operations span the energy value chain, including the exploration, production, processing, trading and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company is also a major participant in liquefied natural gas (LNG), refining, chemicals and energy-related products.

Shell sells fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products through branded retail and commercial businesses, while also providing services to industrial, marine and aviation customers.

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