Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) has perked up 0.9% today, after Monday’s fall, with much of the movement dictated by a rally in the oil price.
The price of Brent has rallied around 2.8% to $78.19/barrel after being as much as 4% lower on Monday after the Saudi price cuts.
The bulls are also out in force after Shell’s mixed trading update on Monday.
Bank of America is particularly upbeat, reiterating a ‘buy’ and 3,200p price target.
“We see Shell as one of our Big Oil top picks - with ~30% upside potential to our unchanged 3,200p [price objective],” it said in a research note.
“We believe 2024 should provide critical catalysts underlining execution of the new CEO's restructuring agenda - sticking out as the only Supermajor with absolute capex cuts y/y and upside to disposal plans,” BofA continued.
It reckons this should further strengthen Shell's relative balance sheet advantage and provide upside to the group's 30-40% cash from facility operations payout ratio.
As a result, it expects around US$25 billion of shareholder distributions, above the US$21 billion consensus.
Barclays trumped BofA with a 3,800p price target, reiterating an ‘overweight’ rating.
BP is also up by 1.2%.