Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Given New $91.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $91.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet upgraded Shell from a c rating to a b- rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Shell Price Performance

NYSE:SHEL traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.37. 4,407,390 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,739,239. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.43 and its 200-day moving average is $66.05. Shell has a twelve month low of $55.78 and a twelve month high of $73.94. The firm has a market cap of $232.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The energy company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Shell had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 5.83%. The business had revenue of $80.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shell will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.688 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Shell by 150.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 10,743 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 6,455 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Shell by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Shell by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 995,786 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $64,109,000 after acquiring an additional 178,741 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Shell by 11.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 340,523 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $21,923,000 after purchasing an additional 34,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 33.2% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 22,362 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 5,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.