Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 69,814 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 23.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,926 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 69,814 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Shell were worth $16,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Shell during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Stock Up 1.3%

Shell stock traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.97. 3,904,123 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,309,626. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $58.55 and a 1-year high of $74.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $212.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Shell declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHEL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, April 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Shell has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.26.

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.