Shell plc to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.72 (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 0.716 per share by the energy company on Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th.

Shell has a payout ratio of 39.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Shell to earn $7.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.9%.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of Shell stock opened at $67.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell has a 1-year low of $58.55 and a 1-year high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.18 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SHEL shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Friday, April 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shell

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Shell stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 51.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

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.