Barclays Initiates Coverage on LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Key Points

• Barclays initiated coverage of LyondellBasell with an “equal weight” rating and a $66 price target, implying approximately 11% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $71.72; JPMorgan issued an “overweight” rating, while UBS maintained “neutral.”
• LyondellBasell’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, reporting $4.30 in earnings per share versus a $3.44 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 19.8% year over year to $9.18 billion.

Barclays started coverage on shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set an "equal weight" rating and a $66.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.00% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp assumed coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised LyondellBasell Industries from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.72.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock opened at $59.46 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $62.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.10. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12 month low of $41.58 and a 12 month high of $83.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.62, a PEG ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $4.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.86. LyondellBasell Industries had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a positive return on equity of 17.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. LyondellBasell Industries's quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 9.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of LyondellBasell Industries

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 16.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,298,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,542,585,000 after acquiring an additional 4,185,571 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 9.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,734,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $775,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,833 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 23.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,534,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $284,750,000 after purchasing an additional 660,340 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 16.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,848,621 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $148,925,000 after purchasing an additional 262,979 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,547,735 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $124,686,000 after purchasing an additional 492,753 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company's stock.

About LyondellBasell Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is a global chemical company that produces materials used across a wide range of industrial and consumer applications. Its portfolio includes olefins and polyolefins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as propylene oxide, oxyfuels, solvents, and other chemical intermediates.

The company's products are used in packaging, healthcare, automotive components, construction materials, agriculture, home furnishings, and consumer goods. LyondellBasell also develops advanced polymer compounds and participates in recycling and circular-economy initiatives designed to increase the reuse of plastic materials.

LyondellBasell serves customers in markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and other international regions through manufacturing facilities, research operations, and commercial activities around the world.

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