Stock Traders Buy High Volume of LyondellBasell Industries Put Options (NYSE:LYB)

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 19,265 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 83% compared to the typical volume of 10,520 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.13, for a total transaction of $26,199,255.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,270,918 shares in the company, valued at $359,107,643.34. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LyondellBasell Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYB. Hosking Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 33.3% in the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 595,587 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,208,000 after acquiring an additional 148,673 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 13.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,807,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $480,972,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,258 shares during the period. Bruce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 50.0% in the third quarter. Bruce & Co. Inc. now owns 60,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 12.8% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 286,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,029,000 after acquiring an additional 32,401 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the third quarter worth $8,965,000. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on LYB shares. Fermium Researc raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $51.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Mizuho raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.17.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Down 13.6%

Shares of NYSE:LYB traded down $10.93 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.33. The stock had a trading volume of 4,120,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,911,161. LyondellBasell Industries has a one year low of $41.58 and a one year high of $83.94. The company has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.76, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.85.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.09 billion during the quarter. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.93% and a negative net margin of 2.46%. As a group, research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -118.45%.

About LyondellBasell Industries

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.