Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Invests $814,000 in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,996 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in Shell by 151.5% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,975 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 9,020 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its holdings in Shell by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 309,269 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $19,376,000 after buying an additional 81,025 shares during the period. RHS Financial LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. RHS Financial LLC now owns 5,667 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 4,242 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at $81,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Shell from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.11.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL stock opened at $65.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.17 and a 200-day moving average of $67.32. Shell plc has a one year low of $60.15 and a one year high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $201.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.55.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 14.54% and a net margin of 5.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Shell plc will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.58%.

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.