Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Short Interest Update

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a decrease of 16.3% from the September 30th total of 5,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of SHEL stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $66.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,784,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,139,159. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Shell has a twelve month low of $60.34 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The stock has a market cap of $205.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.62 and a 200-day moving average of $70.71.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $75.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.62 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 5.97%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Shell will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.688 per share. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Shell from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Shell from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Shell to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Shell to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Institutional Trading of Shell

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Shell by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 169,488 shares of the energy company's stock worth $11,178,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Shell during the third quarter worth approximately $329,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Shell by 24.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 132,582 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,724,000 after acquiring an additional 25,635 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter valued at $148,000. Finally, Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. boosted its position in Shell by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 125,202 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,257,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.