Wells Fargo & Company Cuts LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Price Target to $85.00

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LYB. StockNews.com cut shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.33.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Down 8.1 %

NYSE:LYB opened at $57.98 on Friday. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $107.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.14. The firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 15.97%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 129.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael Sean Hanley acquired 3,750 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.05 per share, for a total transaction of $270,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,817.40. The trade was a 30.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 346 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 268.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 107.6% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

About LyondellBasell Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.