LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $104.00 to $92.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. LyondellBasell Industries traded as low as $74.34 and last traded at $74.40, with a volume of 173377 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.80.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut LyondellBasell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $117.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $76.06 per share, for a total transaction of $380,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,390.50. The trade was a 37.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LyondellBasell Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,202,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,170,183,000 after purchasing an additional 230,327 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,023,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $769,500,000 after buying an additional 362,671 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,605,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $638,964,000 after buying an additional 277,108 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,828,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $461,930,000 after buying an additional 579,300 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,695,361 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $449,175,000 after acquiring an additional 170,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.40.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.10). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 5.29%. The firm had revenue of $10.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is 81.58%.

LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile

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.