LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com cut shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on LYB. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $117.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $86.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $97.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.36.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

NYSE LYB opened at $74.68 on Monday. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1 year low of $74.60 and a 1 year high of $107.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 2.13.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by ($0.10). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $10.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.18%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 81.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $76.06 per share, for a total transaction of $380,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,382,390.50. This represents a 37.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYB. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.5% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 57,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,468,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,875,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $268,664,000 after buying an additional 293,622 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,194,000 after buying an additional 10,359 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 21,609 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the 3rd quarter worth $658,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

About LyondellBasell Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.