Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR $SHEL

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Shell PLC by 12.8%, following the sale of over 1 million shares, while the energy company remains the 14th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Recent analyst ratings indicate a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Shell, with a price target averaging around $76.71.
• Shell has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.716 per share, representing a yield of 3.9% and declaring a share buyback plan worth $3.50 billion, signaling management's confidence in the stock's valuation.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,434,378 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 1,090,394 shares during the period. Shell accounts for 1.8% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.25% of Shell worth $544,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SHEL. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Shell by 29.3% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 17,388 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 3,941 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 7.4% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 270,481 shares of the energy company's stock worth $19,821,000 after buying an additional 18,707 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 3.9% during the first quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the energy company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 6.8% during the first quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,953 shares of the energy company's stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 54.6% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 38,493 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,821,000 after buying an additional 13,602 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SHEL stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $73.71. 2,616,417 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,639,356. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $216.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.44. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 12 month low of $58.54 and a 12 month high of $74.18. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $71.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.72.

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

Shell Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Shell's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.41%.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SHEL shares. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $78.30 price objective (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Shell from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Santander cut shares of Shell to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.71.

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.