Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Price Target Raised to $81.00

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) had its target price lifted by TD Securities from $74.00 to $81.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

Separately, TheStreet raised shares of Shell from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $66.50.

Shell Price Performance

Shell stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.78. 2,676,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,698,273. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Shell has a 12-month low of $55.78 and a 12-month high of $73.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.01. The company has a market capitalization of $234.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The energy company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $80.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.59 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 13.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. Analysts forecast that Shell will post 8.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.688 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHEL. FMR LLC raised its position in Shell by 29.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,087,703 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,872,666,000 after purchasing an additional 6,554,340 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,763,562 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $113,538,000 after buying an additional 1,092,670 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Shell by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,325,276 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $350,403,000 after acquiring an additional 885,069 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Shell by 10.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,742,878 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $562,866,000 after acquiring an additional 848,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L1 Capital Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Shell by 188.7% during the third quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 1,224,617 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $78,841,000 after purchasing an additional 800,365 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.