Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Shell (NYSE:SHEL) to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

SHEL has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Shell from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Shell from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $78.30 target price (down from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.41.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of SHEL opened at $72.56 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $210.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.39. Shell has a twelve month low of $58.54 and a twelve month high of $75.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.69.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $66.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.31 billion. Shell had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 10.67%. As a group, analysts predict that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 64.41%.

Institutional Trading of Shell

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Shell in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its holdings in Shell by 103.4% in the 1st quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 356 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in Shell by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 420 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in Shell by 50.5% in the 2nd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 480 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.