Shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON: RDSB) rose over 2.5% on Friday after the oil giant increased its quarterly dividend, prompting Barclays to upgrade the stock to “Equal-weight”.
Shell swung to a profit of $489 million from losses in the last quarter but still representing a 92% decline from the prior year. Following the return to profit, Shell increased quarterly shareholder distributions to 16.65c.
“We are starting a new era of dividend growth,” CEO Ben Van Buerden told reporters.
Ready to put what you’ve learned into practice?
Try IG’s platform with £10,000 in virtual funds and practise trading
without putting your own money at risk.
Try IG with a demo account →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Learn the markets with IG Academy
Build your knowledge with IG Academy educational content, then use a
demo account to practise what you’ve learned on the IG platform.
Explore IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
See how trading works before risking real money
IG’s demo gives you access to thousands of markets and £10,000 in
virtual funds, so you can explore the platform and test your ideas first.
Open an IG demo →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Turn trading theory into practical experience
Learn with IG Academy, explore charts and market tools, and practise
strategies in a simulated trading environment before going live.
Start practising with IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Ready to take your learning further?
IG combines market education, analysis and an established trading platform,
giving you the tools to keep learning as you develop your trading skills.
Discover IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
After reinstating dividends analysts at Barclays upgraded the stock to “Equal-weight” from prior “Underweight” and maintained its 1,500p target price.
“On our own numbers we expect Shell to hit its new target net debt level at the end of 2021 with the potential for US$2-6bn extra returns to shareholders per year beyond this,” Barclays’ analysts said in today’s note.
“We believe there is more to come from Shell strategically, but it is the combination of the establishment of a financial framework together with the potential cash generation we see that leads us to lift our rating to Equal Weight. We see close to 70% potential upside to our 1500p.”
Shell share price trades over 2.5% in the green on the day as the buyers recover from setting an all-time low of 845.1p on Wednesday.
PEOPLE WHO READ THIS ALSO VIEWED:
