Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 19,801 Shares of Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR $SHEL

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. sold 6.7% of its holdings in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR, reducing its shares to 276,106, valued at $20.23 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Shell during the fourth quarter, with Brighton Jones LLC raising its position by 51.7% and Barclays PLC by 136.2%.
• Shell announced a $0.716 quarterly dividend with a yield of 4.0% and a stock repurchase program authorizing up to $3.5 billion in share buybacks.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its position in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 276,106 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 19,801 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Shell were worth $20,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 103.4% in the 1st quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Price Performance

SHEL traded down $0.0750 on Tuesday, reaching $71.4350. The company had a trading volume of 2,297,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,893,880. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.48. The company has a market cap of $209.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.32. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 52-week low of $58.54 and a 52-week high of $74.18.

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

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Shell Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Shell's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SHEL shares. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $78.30 price objective (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a report on Monday, August 4th. Santander downgraded shares of Shell to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.39.

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.