LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Short Interest Update

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a growth of 18.4% from the November 30th total of 4,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.06 per share, for a total transaction of $380,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,382,390.50. The trade was a 37.95 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LyondellBasell Industries

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 3.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,229,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $501,501,000 after purchasing an additional 187,150 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 307,496 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $29,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,311 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 57,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,468,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 11.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,875,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $268,664,000 after acquiring an additional 293,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 45.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,194,000 after acquiring an additional 10,359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $117.00 to $112.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LyondellBasell Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.27.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LYB traded down $0.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $73.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,254,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,018,638. The company has a market capitalization of $23.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 2.13. LyondellBasell Industries has a fifty-two week low of $72.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.43.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $10.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 5.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 7.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.32%. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.58%.

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.