Meritage Portfolio Management Increases Stake in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 107.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,103 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,707 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Shell were worth $4,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 52.4% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the energy company's stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Shell by 5.2% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 11,025 shares of the energy company's stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Shell by 15.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 103,524 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,586,000 after purchasing an additional 13,590 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Shell by 3.9% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,499 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Finally, Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Shell by 0.6% in the first quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 241,567 shares of the energy company's stock worth $17,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SHEL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.54.

Shell Price Performance

Shell stock traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.40. 2,413,800 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,451,863. The company has a market cap of $212.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 12-month low of $58.55 and a 12-month high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.30. Shell had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

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.