LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) Competitors

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) and Westlake (NYSE:WLK) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, community ranking, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Does the media refer more to LYB or WLK?

In the previous week, Westlake had 1 more articles in the media than LyondellBasell Industries. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Westlake and 9 mentions for LyondellBasell Industries. Westlake's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat LyondellBasell Industries' score of 1.02 indicating that Westlake is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
LyondellBasell Industries	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Westlake	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LYB or WLK?

LyondellBasell Industries received 285 more outperform votes than Westlake when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.80% of users gave LyondellBasell Industries an outperform vote while only 57.27% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
LyondellBasell Industries	Outperform Votes 742 63.80%	Underperform Votes 421 36.20%
Westlake	Outperform Votes 457 57.27%	Underperform Votes 341 42.73%

Is LYB or WLK a better dividend stock?

LyondellBasell Industries pays an annual dividend of $5.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. LyondellBasell Industries pays out 82.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Westlake pays out 105.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. LyondellBasell Industries has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Westlake has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. LyondellBasell Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, LYB or WLK?

LyondellBasell Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake. LyondellBasell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LyondellBasell Industries	$41.04B	0.77	$2.12B	$6.47	14.95
Westlake	$12.55B	1.51	$479M	$1.99	74.27

Is LYB or WLK more profitable?

LyondellBasell Industries has a net margin of 5.68% compared to Westlake's net margin of 2.27%. LyondellBasell Industries' return on equity of 18.63% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LyondellBasell Industries	5.68%	18.63%	6.64%
Westlake	2.27%	7.84%	4.08%

Which has more risk and volatility, LYB or WLK?

LyondellBasell Industries has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in LYB or WLK?

71.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 74.1% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend LYB or WLK?

LyondellBasell Industries presently has a consensus price target of $107.27, suggesting a potential upside of 10.88%. Westlake has a consensus price target of $167.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.33%. Given Westlake's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Westlake is more favorable than LyondellBasell Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LyondellBasell Industries	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Westlake	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.46

Summary

LyondellBasell Industries beats Westlake on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.