LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $75.29, but opened at $70.12. LyondellBasell Industries shares last traded at $67.0990, with a volume of 1,216,704 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $62.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.06.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Down 10.9%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.84 and its 200-day moving average is $53.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.40.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter. LyondellBasell Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.93% and a negative net margin of 2.46%.The business had revenue of $7.09 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -118.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Ai Investments Holdings Llc sold 384,548 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $359,107,643.34. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,965,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,518,546,000 after purchasing an additional 84,251 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,544,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $586,486,000 after purchasing an additional 361,761 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,102,068 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $437,420,000 after purchasing an additional 399,130 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,843,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $426,242,000 after purchasing an additional 36,187 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,159,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $396,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770,260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.