Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Lsb Industries from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Lsb Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lsb Industries in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.50 price objective (up previously from $9.25) on shares of Lsb Industries in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.83.

Lsb Industries Stock Performance

Shares of LXU stock opened at $8.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $612.21 million, a P/E ratio of -851.00 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Lsb Industries has a 52 week low of $4.88 and a 52 week high of $9.98.

Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The conglomerate reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. Lsb Industries had a negative net margin of 0.11% and a positive return on equity of 2.70%. The company had revenue of $155.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.30 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lsb Industries will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lsb Industries

In other news, Director Barry H. Golsen sold 30,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total value of $271,850.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 156,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,418,864.16. This represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 223,710 shares of company stock valued at $2,036,079. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lsb Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,412,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Lsb Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,694,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Lsb Industries by 104.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 365,601 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,881,000 after acquiring an additional 187,108 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Lsb Industries by 825.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 166,639 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 148,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lsb Industries by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 467,113 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,643,000 after purchasing an additional 110,889 shares during the last quarter. 73.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lsb Industries

LSB Industries, Inc (NYSE: LXU) is an Oklahoma City–based manufacturer of chemical products serving the agricultural, industrial and defense markets. The company operates primarily through two segments: Fertilizer Solutions and Commodities Solutions. Through its Fertilizer Solutions segment, LSB produces primary nitrogen products—including anhydrous ammonia and technical-grade ammonium nitrate—that are sold to fertilizer distributors and agricultural retailers across North America. Its Commodities Solutions segment manufactures and sells nitric acid, sodium nitrate and other nitrate-based compounds for industrial applications such as mining, water treatment and specialty chemical production, as well as defense-related formulations used in munitions and pyrotechnics.

Incorporated in 1969, LSB Industries has grown from a single production site to multiple manufacturing facilities strategically located in the central United States.