Farmers Trust Co. Grows Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Farmers Trust Co. raised its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,485 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Shell were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter valued at $121,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Shell by 721.4% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 116,644 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,419,000 after acquiring an additional 102,444 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Shell by 378.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,505,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Shell by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 90,242 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,514,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Up 0.9 %

SHEL opened at $68.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.78. 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 $216.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $75.06 billion during 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 period last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors 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 yield of 4.02%. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 50.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SHEL. Barclays upgraded shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Shell to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus lifted their price objective 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 assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Shell from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

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.