LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Rating Increased to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $68.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $38.00.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LYB. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 6.4%

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $65.89 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.20. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1 year low of $41.58 and a 1 year high of $78.41. The firm has a market cap of $21.23 billion, a PE ratio of -28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $7.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a negative net margin of 2.46% and a positive return on equity of 4.93%. The company’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently -118.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LYB. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 40.4% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 21,899 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 6,297 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 16,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 651,236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,681,000 after buying an additional 15,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 75.9% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,353 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

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.