Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Lsb Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Lsb Industries from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Lsb Industries from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.75 price objective (up from $9.50) on shares of Lsb Industries in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.92.

Lsb Industries Price Performance

NYSE LXU opened at $12.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market cap of $912.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.15. Lsb Industries has a 52-week low of $4.88 and a 52-week high of $14.65.

Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The conglomerate reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. Lsb Industries had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $165.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $153.88 million. Analysts anticipate that Lsb Industries will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kristy Carver sold 19,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $195,304.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 52,613 shares in the company, valued at $525,603.87. This represents a 27.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Barry H. Golsen sold 118,953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.19, for a total value of $1,093,178.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 96,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $889,343.87. The trade was a 55.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 471,501 shares of company stock valued at $4,493,971. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lsb Industries during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,412,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of Lsb Industries by 581.8% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 342,894 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after buying an additional 292,599 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Lsb Industries during the second quarter worth $1,694,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Lsb Industries by 104.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 365,601 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,881,000 after buying an additional 187,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lsb Industries by 301.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 205,236 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 154,150 shares in the last quarter. 73.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lsb Industries Company Profile

LSB Industries, Inc (NYSE: LXU) is an Oklahoma City–based manufacturer of chemical products serving the agricultural, industrial and defense markets. The company operates primarily through two segments: Fertilizer Solutions and Commodities Solutions. Through its Fertilizer Solutions segment, LSB produces primary nitrogen products—including anhydrous ammonia and technical-grade ammonium nitrate—that are sold to fertilizer distributors and agricultural retailers across North America. Its Commodities Solutions segment manufactures and sells nitric acid, sodium nitrate and other nitrate-based compounds for industrial applications such as mining, water treatment and specialty chemical production, as well as defense-related formulations used in munitions and pyrotechnics.

Incorporated in 1969, LSB Industries has grown from a single production site to multiple manufacturing facilities strategically located in the central United States.