London CNN —Two of Europe’s biggest oil companies, Shell and TotalEnergies, are considering abandoning their stock exchanges for Wall Street in a move that would deal a hammer blow to London and Paris. Shares of TotalEnergies and Shell trade on a price-to-cash flow ratio of 4.7 and 5.2 respectively, compared with a ratio of 8.4 for Exxon Mobil (XOM) and 7.6 for Chevron (CVX). Alastair Syme, managing director of global energy equity research at Citi, says Shell and TotalEnergies have long traded at a discount. Investors would “be much more comfortable” buying European energy companies if they were part of the more valuable S&P 500 benchmark index of US equities, according to Syme. London languishesStill, the slightest hint that Shell may consider leaving London will have rattled the city’s beleaguered main stock exchange.

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Persons: Britain’s Shell, France’s, Alastair Syme, Syme, Patrick Pouyanne, “, ”, Wael Sawan, Sawan, London languishes, Chris Beauchamp, Shell, TotalEnergies, New York “ would’ve, ” Lindsey Stewart, Ben van Beurden, ” Syme Organizations: London CNN, Shell, CAC, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Citi, CNN, Investors, Bloomberg, London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, BP, Morningstar, Financial, Commodities Locations: London, Paris, New York, Chevron, Europe, United States, Switzerland, “