Synovus Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Synovus Financial Corp cut its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,786 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 7,888 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Shell were worth $6,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC grew its position in shares of Shell by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SHEL. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.73.

Shell Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of SHEL traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.01. 4,511,560 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,301,172. The company has a market capitalization of $196.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $58.55 and a 1-year high of $74.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.31 and a 200 day moving average of $66.12.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell's payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

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.