LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Shares Up 3.6% – Should You Buy?

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB)’s share price shot up 3.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $81.96 and last traded at $81.4190. 921,828 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 7,885,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LYB. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Vertical Research raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of -31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.77.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.93% and a negative net margin of 2.46%.The company had revenue of $7.09 billion during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is -118.45%.

Insider Transactions at LyondellBasell Industries

In related news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,270,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,107,643.34. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hosking Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 33.3% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 595,587 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,208,000 after acquiring an additional 148,673 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,135,258 shares during the last quarter. Bruce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 50.0% during the third quarter. Bruce & Co. Inc. now owns 60,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 12.8% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 286,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,029,000 after acquiring an additional 32,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,006,356 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,352,000 after acquiring an additional 33,873 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.