Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Acquired by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 76.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,226 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,456 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings in Shell were worth $1,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SHEL shares. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, April 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.35.

Shell Stock Down 0.8%

Shell stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,547,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,291,304. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.84.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.18 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to buy 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 stock is undervalued.

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.