LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Shares Up 5.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) shot up 5.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $70.67 and last traded at $71.0930. 1,820,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 7,396,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Vertical Research raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $51.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.61.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 7.9%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.25 and its 200 day moving average is $49.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.64.

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

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is currently -118.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LyondellBasell Industries

In other news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 5,270,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $359,107,643.34. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EMC Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 2,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter worth $3,494,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 212.7% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 93,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,065,000 after purchasing an additional 63,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

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.