Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotiabank raised its target on Shell from $91 to $122 and maintained a "sector outperform" rating, implying about a 36.4% upside from the prior close.
• Despite that bullish call, the analyst consensus is still a Hold with a $97.33 average target; Shell recently missed quarterly EPS estimates ($1.14 vs. $1.21) and trades near $89.46 with a PE of ~14.9.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $91.00 to $122.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "sector outperform" rating on the energy company's stock. Scotiabank's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 36.37% from the company's previous close.

SHEL has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Shell from $89.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Shell from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Shell from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded shares of Shell from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.33.

Shell Stock Performance

SHEL stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.46. The company had a trading volume of 2,203,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,074,525. The firm has a market cap of $253.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.30. Shell has a 12 month low of $64.02 and a 12 month high of $94.90. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $87.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.65.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The energy company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $64.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.82 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 6.52%. On average, analysts forecast that Shell will post 9.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Shell by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Shell by 13.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,445,346 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $103,386,000 after acquiring an additional 167,983 shares in the last quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Shell by 3.5% during the third quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 191,732 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $13,715,000 after acquiring an additional 6,546 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Shell by 119.7% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 42,664 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 23,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in Shell by 15.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 61,000 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

About Shell

Shell plc NYSE: SHEL is a global integrated energy company that operates across the full oil and gas value chain as well as in developing lower-carbon energy solutions. The company traces its roots to the early 20th century merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading, and today it is organized to explore for and produce hydrocarbons, process and refine them, manufacture petrochemicals, and market fuel, lubricants and related products under the Shell brand around the world.

Shell's principal activities include upstream exploration and production of oil and natural gas, integrated gas operations including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and downstream refining, supply and marketing.

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