LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) Competitors

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) are related large-cap companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, risk, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, CAT or LYB?

Caterpillar has higher revenue and earnings than LyondellBasell Industries. LyondellBasell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Caterpillar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Caterpillar	$64.81B	2.89	$10.79B	$20.52	19.40
LyondellBasell Industries	$40.30B	0.50	$1.37B	$3.24	19.30

Which has more risk & volatility, CAT or LYB?

Caterpillar has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LyondellBasell Industries has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CAT or LYB?

71.0% of Caterpillar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Caterpillar shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate CAT or LYB?

Caterpillar currently has a consensus price target of $380.83, suggesting a potential downside of 4.36%. LyondellBasell Industries has a consensus price target of $69.75, suggesting a potential upside of 11.55%. Given LyondellBasell Industries' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe LyondellBasell Industries is more favorable than Caterpillar.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Caterpillar	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
LyondellBasell Industries	2 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.13

Does the media favor CAT or LYB?

In the previous week, Caterpillar had 41 more articles in the media than LyondellBasell Industries. MarketBeat recorded 55 mentions for Caterpillar and 14 mentions for LyondellBasell Industries. LyondellBasell Industries' average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Caterpillar's score of 1.27 indicating that LyondellBasell Industries is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Caterpillar	47 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
LyondellBasell Industries	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CAT or LYB a better dividend stock?

Caterpillar pays an annual dividend of $5.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. LyondellBasell Industries pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. Caterpillar pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LyondellBasell Industries pays out 169.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Caterpillar has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years and LyondellBasell Industries has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Is CAT or LYB more profitable?

Caterpillar has a net margin of 15.71% compared to LyondellBasell Industries' net margin of 2.81%. Caterpillar's return on equity of 53.77% beat LyondellBasell Industries' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Caterpillar	15.71%	53.77%	11.64%
LyondellBasell Industries	2.81%	13.19%	4.71%

Summary

Caterpillar beats LyondellBasell Industries on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.