Earnest Partners LLC Trims Stake in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR $SHEL

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in Shell PLC by 12.2%, leaving it with 29,301 shares valued at approximately $2.14 million as of the end of the last quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their holdings in Shell, with 28.60% of the stock now owned by hedge funds.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Shell's stock, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.71.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,301 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 4,054 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC's holdings in Shell were worth $2,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Shell by 2.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 23,272,913 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,705,430,000 after acquiring an additional 451,233 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Shell by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,253,238 shares of the energy company's stock worth $531,519,000 after purchasing an additional 352,569 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shell by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,571,809 shares of the energy company's stock worth $481,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,198 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,592,218 shares of the energy company's stock worth $263,238,000 after acquiring an additional 15,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,463,372 shares of the energy company's stock worth $216,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182,253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of Shell stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.92. 1,874,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,101,764. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.46. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a one year low of $58.54 and a one year high of $74.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $66.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.31 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Shell's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Shell from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Shell from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Santander lowered shares of Shell to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.71.

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.