Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 3,884 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,284 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,884 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Shell were worth $7,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of SHEL stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $66.36. The company had a trading volume of 5,277,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,326,865. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $66.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. Shell plc has a one year low of $58.55 and a one year high of $74.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Shell's payout ratio is 65.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SHEL. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.35.

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.