Piper Sandler Raises Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Price Target to $84.00

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $83.00 to $84.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the energy company's stock. Piper Sandler's price target suggests a potential upside of 18.90% from the company's current price.

SHEL has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Santander lowered Shell to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Shell from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.69.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of SHEL traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.65. 3,332,868 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,494,952. The company has a market cap of $210.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.40. Shell has a 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.18 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 4.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Shell in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Shell in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its stake in Shell by 103.4% in the first quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in Shell by 102.9% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 420 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

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.