Simplicity Wealth LLC Grows Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 90.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,745 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,630 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Shell were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company's stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Shell by 136.2% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the energy company's stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Shell by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company's stock worth $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 14,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 373.2% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 235,467 shares of the energy company's stock worth $14,752,000 after acquiring an additional 185,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHEL. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.26.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.49. The stock had a trading volume of 5,920,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,317,210. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.05. Shell plc has a fifty-two week low of $58.55 and a fifty-two week high of $74.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The firm had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.