Leavell Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,990 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 5,932 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Shell were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 930.2% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Shell during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shell by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SHEL stock traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $67.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,934,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,037,361. The stock's 50-day moving average is $64.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.89. Shell plc has a twelve month low of $60.15 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The firm has a market cap of $205.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is an increase from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Shell's payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Shell from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Shell from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.11.

Shell 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.