Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR by 14.2% in the first quarter, now holding shares valued at $56.02 million.
• Shell's quarterly earnings report revealed an earnings per share of $1.42, surpassing analysts' expectations, while the company also announced a $3.50 billion stock repurchase program.
• The company's announced quarterly dividend of $0.716 per share reflects an annualized yield of 3.9%, set to be paid on September 22nd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 14.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 764,519 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 95,044 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Shell were worth $56,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SHEL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Shell during the first quarter valued at approximately $180,366,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Shell by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,463,372 shares of the energy company's stock worth $216,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,253 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Shell during the 4th quarter valued at about $83,204,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Shell by 2,096.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,217,115 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $89,190,000 after buying an additional 1,161,709 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Shell by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,571,809 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $481,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,198 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Shell from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. HSBC restated a "hold" rating and issued a $78.30 price target (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Santander cut shares of Shell to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.64.

Shell Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE SHEL traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.94. 3,237,960 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,008,621. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.41. 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 PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 52-week low of $58.54 and a 52-week high of $74.18. The firm has a market cap of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Shell Dividend Announcement

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

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication 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.