Mizuho Raises LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Price Target to $108.00

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) had its price target boosted by Mizuho from $98.00 to $108.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $107.00 target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an underperform rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $104.75.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

LYB stock opened at $99.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.19. LyondellBasell Industries has a one year low of $84.80 and a one year high of $106.69.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.17. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 5.20%. The business had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is presently 77.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $2,899,224.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 91,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,101,476.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $2,899,224.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,758 shares in the company, valued at $9,101,476.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan sold 18,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total transaction of $1,819,431.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,246.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,853 shares of company stock worth $8,077,267 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 13,663 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter worth $14,000,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 24.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,085,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $386,894,000 after acquiring an additional 815,083 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,001,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $1,426,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

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.