LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $67.22, but opened at $62.64. LyondellBasell Industries shares last traded at $61.57, with a volume of 3,150,218 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Fermium Researc raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.00.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.76.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The company had revenue of $7.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from LyondellBasell Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is 169.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 3,502.2% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,015,528 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $141,893,000 after buying an additional 1,959,576 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 207.8% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,254,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $167,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,043 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $81,015,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 137.9% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,760,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $123,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,965,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,260,052,000 after purchasing an additional 851,365 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.