Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Short Interest Up 23.6% in May

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,280,000 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the April 30th total of 7,510,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SHEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $78.26.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE SHEL traded up $0.50 on Friday, hitting $68.03. 2,794,943 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,303,287. The firm has a market cap of $203.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $65.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.87. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $58.55 and a fifty-two week high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the first quarter worth $25,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the first quarter worth $25,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 103.4% during the first quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 930.2% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company's stock.

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.