Berenberg nudges up target price on Shell

Berenberg noted that Shell had reported "a strong beat" for the fourth quarter of 2021 and that the firm had confirmed a 4% dividend increase and $8.5bn buyback for 2022.

The German bank also highlighted that after "a stellar year for cash generation", the outlook for 2022 was even better, particularly for Shell's integrated gas business.

While Berenberg said the key will be delivering consistent production and operations so that the company can benefit from the strong environment for liquefied natural gas, it believes Shell will deliver its highest returns in a decade in 2022, while returning around 9% of the market cap to shareholders in cash.

"We continue to view the company as attractively valued at 8.7x current-year price-to-earnings, and raise our price target to €28.40/2,375.0p," said the analysts, who also reiterated their 'buy' rating on the stock.