Shell Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 10,264 call options on the company. This is an increase of 48% compared to the average daily volume of 6,922 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SHEL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Shell from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Argus increased their price target on Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Shell to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Shell currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE:SHEL traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,794,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,082,709. Shell has a fifty-two week low of $60.34 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $211.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.05 and its 200-day moving average is $70.29.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $75.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.62 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 5.97%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Shell will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.688 per share. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth approximately $769,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Shell by 21.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 44,896 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after buying an additional 7,779 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Shell by 65.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,698,247 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $122,579,000 after buying an additional 673,624 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC grew its stake in Shell by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 2,417,326 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $159,060,000 after acquiring an additional 304,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,628,000. 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.