Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America has lowered its target price for LyondellBasell Industries to $50.00 from $55.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock.
• Other analysts have also cut their target prices, with Weiss Ratings reaffirming a "sell (d+)" rating and Royal Bank of Canada lowering their target from $64.00 to $54.00.
• LyondellBasell Industries reported a significant earnings miss for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.62 compared to analyst expectations of $0.87.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Bank of America from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Bank of America's target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.12% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on LYB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.44.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:LYB opened at $46.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a PE ratio of 60.06 and a beta of 0.87. LyondellBasell Industries has a fifty-two week low of $44.89 and a fifty-two week high of $93.80.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 0.74%.The business's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $1,071,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 160,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,590,003.07. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the first quarter worth about $25,000. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 6,314.3% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 449 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 352.3% during the first quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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