LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Price Target Raised to $74.00

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $63.00 to $74.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LYB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $77.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.22.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $61.57 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.87. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $41.58 and a 52-week high of $83.94. The firm has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by ($0.03). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 21.94% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 69.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 37,018 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 40,417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 28,338 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 16,159 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About LyondellBasell Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is a global chemical company that produces polymers, chemicals and related products used in packaging, transportation, construction, healthcare, consumer goods and other industries. Its portfolio includes polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced polymers, propylene oxide, solvents, acetyls and other chemical intermediates.

The company also operates businesses involved in refining and in the development and licensing of chemical and polymer technologies. Its products are used to manufacture items such as food and beverage packaging, automotive components, medical products, coatings, adhesives and household goods.