Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,279 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 86,417,177 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,414,036,000 after acquiring an additional 21,118,234 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,463,372 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $216,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182,253 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth $91,716,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth $83,204,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP grew its stake in Shell by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 2,262,997 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $141,777,000 after buying an additional 718,233 shares during the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL stock opened at $72.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $216.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.06. 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 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.26.

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.