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

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.4118.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LYB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $77.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $68.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered LyondellBasell Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 4.2%

LYB opened at $65.36 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.07. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12 month low of $41.58 and a 12 month high of $83.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.84, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.31.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.86. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 17.44% and a negative net margin of 1.13%.The company had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. LyondellBasell Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 9.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -244.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,298,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,542,585,000 after buying an additional 4,185,571 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,843,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $426,242,000 after purchasing an additional 36,187 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,159,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $396,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770,260 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,937,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $300,998,000 after purchasing an additional 305,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,534,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $284,750,000 after purchasing an additional 660,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) is a global chemical company that produces plastics, chemicals and refined products used in packaging, transportation, construction, healthcare, electronics and other consumer and industrial applications. Its portfolio includes polyethylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide, oxyfuels, acetyls and other intermediate chemicals, as well as advanced polymer compounds and solutions.

The company operates across the petrochemical value chain, converting hydrocarbon feedstocks into materials and specialty products.