EP Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,956 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,757 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. increased its holdings in Shell by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Shell by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Shell by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Shell by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Shell by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.35.

Shell Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Shell stock opened at $66.16 on Friday. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.74 and a 200 day moving average of $65.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $199.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Shell’s payout ratio is 65.90%.

Shell announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.