Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,292 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SHEL. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in Shell during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Shell in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Shell by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Shell by 217.7% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Shell in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SHEL traded up $0.41 on Monday, reaching $72.78. 2,679,452 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,698,303. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.43 and a 200-day moving average of $66.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $55.78 and a 52-week high of $73.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The energy company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Shell had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $80.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Shell plc will post 8.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.688 per share. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Shell from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Shell from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.