Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Berenberg Bank

Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Shell (NYSE:SHEL) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Shell from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.40.

Shell Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $71.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $225.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. Shell has a 12-month low of $60.13 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $75.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.62 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.97% and a return on equity of 14.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Shell will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.688 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Shell during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shell by 217.7% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 611.1% in the fourth quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 495 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in 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.