LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $52.00 to $75.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. 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.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LYB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.13, for a total value of $26,199,255.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,270,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LYB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,965,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,518,546,000 after purchasing an additional 84,251 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.4% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,969,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $981,884,000 after purchasing an additional 73,965 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,544,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,486,000 after purchasing an additional 361,761 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,102,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $437,420,000 after purchasing an additional 399,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,843,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $426,242,000 after purchasing an additional 36,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.73. The company has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.64.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.44). LyondellBasell Industries had a negative net margin of 2.46% and a positive return on equity of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $7.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. LyondellBasell Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. 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.