Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Short Interest Down 15.9% in September

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, a decline of 15.9% from the August 31st total of 7,230,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Shell Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $66.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.41. Shell has a 52-week low of $60.34 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.77.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.15. Shell had a net margin of 5.97% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $75.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Shell will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.688 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SHEL. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Shell from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Shell from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Shell to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Shell in the second quarter worth about $151,578,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in Shell by 83.2% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,187,872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $146,675,000 after acquiring an additional 993,342 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Shell by 130.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,400,186 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $92,132,000 after purchasing an additional 793,136 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,715,078 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $450,180,000 after purchasing an additional 772,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 65.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,698,247 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $122,579,000 after purchasing an additional 673,624 shares in the last quarter. 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.