LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Receives “Neutral” Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a $60.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $80.00.

LYB has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $97.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Down 8.1 %

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock opened at $57.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $57.57 and a 52-week high of $107.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.33.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 3.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael Sean Hanley bought 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.05 per share, with a total value of $270,187.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,817.40. The trade was a 30.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYB. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 207.8% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,254,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $167,448,000 after buying an additional 1,522,043 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $283,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,913 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $81,015,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,115,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,965,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,260,052,000 after purchasing an additional 851,365 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.