Investors Purchase High Volume of LyondellBasell Industries Put Options (NYSE:LYB)

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 11,852 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 34% compared to the average daily volume of 8,814 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised LyondellBasell Industries from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.28.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.13, for a total value of $26,199,255.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,270,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,107,643.34. This trade represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LyondellBasell Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 62.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 42,321 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 16,234 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 375.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 14,217 shares during the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 33.3% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 595,587 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,208,000 after purchasing an additional 148,673 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $280,000,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 13.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,807,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,258 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $72.28 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $41.58 and a one year high of $75.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.26. The company has a market capitalization of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.64.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $7.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.93% and a negative net margin of 2.46%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued 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 3.8%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -118.45%.

Key LyondellBasell Industries News

Here are the key news stories impacting LyondellBasell Industries this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and supply?tightening narrative lifted sentiment — multiple brokers (KeyBanc, RBC, Jefferies) have upgraded LYB this month, arguing the company could benefit from tighter global petrochemical supplies and recovering polyolefins margins; that thesis drove recent rallies. Quiver Quantitative analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Geopolitical risks (Middle East) are being priced as a potential tailwind for U.S. Gulf?Coast chemical producers, including LYB, supporting expectations for stronger pricing and spreads. Invezz article
• Positive Sentiment: Broker optimism persists in places — recent coverage highlights upside potential (Jefferies and others have bullish forecasts), which can sustain a re?rating if spreads firm. American Banking News
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $70 from $48 but kept an “equal?weight” rating — the higher target narrows the disconnect with the market but its stance signals a hold/limited?upside view that can cap further rallies. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlighting LYB as a potential dividend play despite prior payout cuts may attract income?seeking flows, but those buyers may be cautious until margins stabilize. Barron’s
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity: investors bought ~11,852 put contracts (?34% above average), suggesting increased hedging or bearish speculation after the recent run. (No article link provided in the feed.)
• Negative Sentiment: Fundamentals/headwinds: LYB missed Q4 EPS expectations in late January and reported year?over?year revenue declines; until spreads and volumes recover, earnings risk remains a downside catalyst.

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.