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

Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 17,388 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 111% compared to the average volume of 8,245 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SHEL. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $78.30 target price (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Shell from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Shell from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.71.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of Shell stock opened at $72.54 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell has a 1-year low of $58.54 and a 1-year high of $74.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.29. Shell had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $66.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Shell’s payout ratio is presently 64.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the 2nd quarter valued at $372,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Shell by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 137,086 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,652,000 after buying an additional 7,179 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,900 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 2,857 shares during the period. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,150 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,572 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.