Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Trims Stock Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 52.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,521 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 22,399 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 217.7% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Shell by 611.1% during the 4th quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Shell by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 495 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shell in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Performance

Shell stock opened at $72.29 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $228.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.61. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $59.51 and a 1-year high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $74.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.03 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 5.83%. On average, analysts expect that Shell plc will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.688 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Argus boosted their price objective on Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. TD Securities increased their price objective on Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Shell in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.40.

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.