LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a neutral rating. UBS Group now has a $73.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $42.00. LyondellBasell Industries traded as high as $75.80 and last traded at $75.5450, with a volume of 5726816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.20.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on LYB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.22.

Insider Transactions at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.13, for a total transaction of $26,199,255.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,270,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,107,643.34. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $280,000,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,159,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $396,615,000 after buying an additional 4,770,260 shares during the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $268,123,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 512.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,093,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $133,941,000 after buying an additional 2,588,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 5,451.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,457,591 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,334 shares during the period. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 5.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.56. The company has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.64.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $7.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.93% and a negative net margin of 2.46%.LyondellBasell Industries’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Research analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently -118.45%.

About LyondellBasell Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) is a global chemical company headquartered in Houston, Texas, that specializes in the production of polyolefins and advanced polymers. Through its extensive portfolio, the company supplies raw materials for a wide range of end markets, including packaging, automotive, construction, electronics and consumer goods. By combining proprietary process technologies with expertise in catalysts, LyondellBasell aims to deliver value-added solutions that enhance product performance and sustainability.

The company’s integrated operations encompass the manufacture of olefins and polyolefins, advanced polymer products, chemical intermediates and refining activities.