ABC Arbitrage SA Invests $4.06 Million in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA purchased 55,447 shares of Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR, valued at approximately $4,063,000, marking a significant new investment in the energy company.
• Shell recently reported earnings of $1.42 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a $3.50 billion share buyback program indicating confidence in its stock value.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.716 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 4.0% with a payout ratio of 64.41%.

ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 55,447 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $4,063,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its position in Shell by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the energy company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Shell by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the energy company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Shell by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,235 shares of the energy company's stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of Shell by 5.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 3,562 shares of the energy company's stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in shares of Shell by 103.4% during the first quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Santander downgraded shares of Shell to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $78.30 price objective (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.64.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $71.64. 3,839,707 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,254,761. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 1-year low of $58.54 and a 1-year high of $74.18. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $71.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.29. Shell had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $66.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.31 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Shell's payout ratio is presently 64.41%.

Shell announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.