Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Earns Hold Rating from HSBC

Key Points

• HSBC has reiterated a "hold" rating for Shell (NYSE:SHEL) with a revised price target of $78.30, indicating a potential upside of 8.77% from its previous close.
• Shell's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.42, surpassing estimates, but revenue fell short at $66.44 billion.
• The company has initiated a $3.50 billion stock buyback plan, suggesting the board believes its shares are undervalued.

HSBC restated their hold rating on shares of Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. HSBC currently has a $78.30 price objective on the energy company's stock, down from their prior price objective of $78.90.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on SHEL. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, July 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Shell from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen dropped 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.64.

Shell Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SHEL traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $71.64. The company had a trading volume of 3,839,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,769,060. The stock has a market cap of $211.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.12. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $58.54 and a fifty-two week high of $74.18.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $66.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

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

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

Institutional Trading of Shell

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Shell by 136.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Shell by 4.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,323 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shell by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 908,572 shares of the energy company's stock worth $66,580,000 after purchasing an additional 23,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 100.9% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,534 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 5,794 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.