LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $84.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $76.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.75.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

NYSE LYB opened at $58.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $67.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.44. LyondellBasell Industries has a fifty-two week low of $51.11 and a fifty-two week high of $107.02.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The company had revenue of $7.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 129.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Sean Hanley acquired 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $72.05 per share, for a total transaction of $270,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,028 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,817.40. This represents a 30.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,965,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,260,052,000 after acquiring an additional 851,365 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,582,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $637,394,000 after acquiring an additional 558,137 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $512,913,000 after acquiring an additional 199,054 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,826,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $432,721,000 after purchasing an additional 694,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,229,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $501,501,000 after purchasing an additional 187,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.