LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Earns “Sell” Rating from UBS Group

UBS Group restated their sell rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $51.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $76.00.

LYB has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $97.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.83.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

Shares of LYB opened at $56.64 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $74.04 and its 200-day moving average is $79.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. LyondellBasell Industries has a fifty-two week low of $54.11 and a fifty-two week high of $107.02.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 15.97%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 129.47%.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Michael Sean Hanley acquired 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.05 per share, with a total value of $270,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,817.40. This trade represents a 30.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,254,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $167,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,043 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $283,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,913 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $81,015,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $69,115,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,965,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,260,052,000 after buying an additional 851,365 shares during the period. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.