LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.5625.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LYB shares. Zacks Research raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded LyondellBasell Industries to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $49.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.70 and a beta of 0.87. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1 year low of $44.87 and a 1 year high of $88.79.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 0.74% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.24 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 711.69%.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In other news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $1,071,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 160,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,590,003.07. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 56.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 27.1% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 21.2% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,089 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 80.7% in the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 21.0% in the first quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 9,892 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares in the last quarter. 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.