LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Stock Price Up 3.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) rose about 3.6% to $81.42 on Tuesday, trading as high as $81.96 on sharply lower volume (~921,828 shares vs. an average of ~7.9M).
• Analysts have been active—several raised targets and one upgraded the stock—but MarketBeat's consensus remains a Hold with an average target of $67.39, below the current price.
• The company has mixed fundamentals: a $25.9B market cap, a negative PE (-34.59) and a ($0.26) EPS last quarter, and it recently paid a $0.69 quarterly dividend (a 3.4% yield) after cutting its payout, leaving a -118% payout ratio.

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) rose 3.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $81.96 and last traded at $81.4190. Approximately 921,828 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,885,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LYB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $62.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.39.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of -34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $64.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.93% and a negative net margin of 2.46%.The business had revenue of $7.09 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is presently -118.45%.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In related news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.13, for a total value of $26,199,255.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,270,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $359,107,643.34. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,965,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,518,546,000 after purchasing an additional 84,251 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,544,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $586,486,000 after purchasing an additional 361,761 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,102,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $437,420,000 after purchasing an additional 399,130 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,843,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $426,242,000 after purchasing an additional 36,187 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,159,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $396,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770,260 shares during the period. 71.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. NYSE: LYB is a global chemical company headquartered in Houston, Texas, that specializes in the production of polyolefins and advanced polymers. Through its extensive portfolio, the company supplies raw materials for a wide range of end markets, including packaging, automotive, construction, electronics and consumer goods. By combining proprietary process technologies with expertise in catalysts, LyondellBasell aims to deliver value-added solutions that enhance product performance and sustainability.

The company's integrated operations encompass the manufacture of olefins and polyolefins, advanced polymer products, chemical intermediates and refining activities.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.