Shell Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 20,832 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 100% compared to the average volume of 10,417 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Shell by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the energy company's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the energy company's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the energy company's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten 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 has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.26.

Shell Stock Performance

SHEL traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.34. 6,469,676 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,336,583. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $66.97 and its 200 day moving average is $66.31. Shell has a 52 week low of $58.55 and a 52 week high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 11.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Shell's payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

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.