Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B) Stock Lower on Potential Strike

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B) stock is down on Monday afternoon as a portion of the company's North Sea workers threaten to go on strike due to layoffs and pay cuts.
By Natalie Walters ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Royal Dutch Shell (undefined) are down 3.16% to $55.69 on higher than usual volume in mid-afternoon trading on Monday, as a group of the company's workers in the North Sea threaten to strike. 

So far today, 4.19 million share have traded hands, compared to the daily average of 3.55 million shares. 

The group of workers say that the cuts across the industry have been too much considering oil prices are starting to see an upturn, the New York Times reports. The unions organizing the strike represent about 400 maintenance workers and said members won't work overtime on Monday and will stop work completely on Tuesday. 

"We understand there is a downturn in the North Sea," John Boland, an official of Unite, told the Times. "But the level of cuts being proposed are too much."

The strike is "highly regrettable" but will not affect production as the members participating in the strike are not essential personnel, Shell said in a statement. 

"It will have no impact on us," Philip Robinson, a Shell spokesman, told the Times. "We have prepared."

Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation:

We rate ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC as a Hold with a ratings score of C. B) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. Among the primary strengths of the company is its solid financial position based on a variety of debt and liquidity measures that we have evaluated. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, poor profit margins and weak operating cash flow.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: RDS.B

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