Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 711,854 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 6,012 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Shell were worth $51,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,779 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position 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 worth $122,579,000 after acquiring an additional 673,624 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $22,628,000. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $1,306,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 2,843.4% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 170,867 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,455,000 after acquiring an additional 165,062 shares during the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL stock opened at $68.72 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.71. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $60.34 and a 52 week high of $74.61. The company has a market cap of $215.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.57.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued 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 return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 5.97%. The company had revenue of $75.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.688 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SHEL shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Shell from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Berenberg Bank raised Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Shell from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Shell to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.