Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $4.28 Million in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 68,311 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $4,280,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 86,417,177 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $5,414,036,000 after buying an additional 21,118,234 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,716,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,204,000. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in Shell by 523.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 831,000 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $52,062,000 after buying an additional 697,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shell by 14,434.6% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 556,239 shares of the energy company's stock worth $34,848,000 after purchasing an additional 552,412 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SHEL. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.35.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE:SHEL traded up $0.30 on Thursday, hitting $67.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,669,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,319,503. 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 fifty day moving average of $66.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. Shell plc has a one year low of $58.55 and a one year high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.30. Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.90%.

Shell declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Shell Company 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.