Shell (NYSE:SHEL) Upgraded by Barclays to Strong-Buy

Barclays upgraded shares of Shell (NYSE:SHEL) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on SHEL. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Shell from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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 upgraded Shell to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $83.50.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE SHEL opened at $68.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $216.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.41. Shell has a 52-week low of $60.34 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.93 and a 200-day moving average of $70.83.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.15. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Shell will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.688 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,526,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Shell by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 90,152 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,932,000 after buying an additional 45,567 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Shell by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,092,458 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $137,684,000 after buying an additional 126,517 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of Shell by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 20,000 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stamos Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Shell by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. now owns 173,540 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,419,000 after acquiring an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Company 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.