Equity Investment Corp Reduces Stock Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Equity Investment Corp decreased its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962,354 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 26,155 shares during the quarter. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Shell were worth $69,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Shell by 611.1% during the 4th quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Shell in the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL stock opened at $66.98 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $71.56 and its 200 day moving average is $70.41. The company has a market capitalization of $209.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.57. Shell plc has a one year low of $60.34 and a one year high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $75.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.62 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.97% and a return on equity of 14.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Shell plc will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.688 dividend. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SHEL. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Shell to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Shell in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Shell from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Shell 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.