Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 538,296 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,420,000. Shell comprises approximately 0.9% of Sapient Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHEL. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Shell in the third quarter worth about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Shell during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Shell by 217.7% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Shell from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Shell from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Shell has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHEL traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.37. 4,407,390 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,739,239. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $55.78 and a 1-year high of $73.94. The company has a market cap of $232.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.03.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The energy company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $80.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.59 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 5.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Shell plc will post 8.22 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.688 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is 50.74%.

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.