Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Sells 8,862 Shares of Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL)

Key Points

• Mondrian Investment Partners LTD reduced its stake in Shell PLC by 0.5% in the first quarter, now holding 1,655,018 shares valued at approximately $121.3 million, making it the firm's 22nd largest position.
• Shell's recent quarterly earnings showed a profit of $1.42 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, while the company has also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.716 per share, yielding 4.0% annually.
• Several brokerages have downgraded their ratings on Shell, with HSBC lowering its price target to $78.30; currently, the stock holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lowered its holdings in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,655,018 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 8,862 shares during the quarter. Shell comprises 2.1% of Mondrian Investment Partners LTD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD owned about 0.06% of Shell worth $121,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Shell by 5.0% during the first quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the energy company's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Shell by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,235 shares of the energy company's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 3,562 shares of the energy company's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 103.4% during the first quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Shell by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,468 shares of the energy company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE SHEL traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.94. 3,237,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,717,308. The company has a market capitalization of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.38.

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

Shell announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Shell's payout ratio is 64.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.