LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Short Interest Update

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, a drop of 39.8% from the September 15th total of 4,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,810,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of LYB opened at $94.64 on Friday. LyondellBasell Industries has a one year low of $88.46 and a one year high of $107.02. The company has a market cap of $30.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.54.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.01. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 18.63%. The business had revenue of $10.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is presently 75.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LYB. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $117.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $106.00 to $101.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $113.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.82.

Institutional Trading of LyondellBasell Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LYB. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 133,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,664,000 after buying an additional 60,739 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth $1,704,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth $405,000. Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth $268,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 174.4% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 12,104 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 7,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile

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.