LyondellBasell Declares Hike Of Quarterly Dividend By 11%

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) declared that its Supervisory Board has authorized its management to raise quarterly dividend by 11% to $1 per share from 90 cents in fourth-quarter 2017. The dividend will be paid on Mar 12, 2018 to shareholders of record as of Mar 5, 2018, with an ex-dividend date of Mar 2, 2018. Notably, this marks LyondellBasell’s 10th dividend increase since 2011.

LyondellBasell remains committed to deliver greater value to shareholders leveraging healthy cash flows. The company returned $22.9 billion through dividends and share repurchases over the past five years.

LyondellBasell ended 2017 with cash and cash equivalents of $1,523 million, up 74.1% year over year. The company generated cash flows from operations of $5.2 billion in 2017. LyondellBasell repurchased 10 million shares in 2017, returning $866 million to shareholders. The company also paid dividend worth $1.4 billion last year.

LyondellBasell has outperformed the industry it belongs to over the past six months. The company’s shares have rallied around 23.6% over this period, compared with roughly 13.7% gain recorded by the industry.

LyondellBasell’s net profits from continuing operations rose more than two-fold, year over year to $1.9 billion or $4.80 per share in fourth-quarter 2017. Barring a non-cash benefit from the U.S. tax reform of $2.07 per share, adjusted earnings came in at $2.73 per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.52.

Revenues increased roughly 17.9% year over year to $9,135 million in the quarter, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8,785 million.

LyondellBasell, during fourth-quarter call, noted that strong global demand and delays in capacity additions across the industry have led to improved outlook for 2018. The company intends to realize the benefits of strong operating rates across its global portfolio of assets and continue the upward trajectory in profitability for the Houston refinery. The company expects strong contributions from its refinery in 2018, driven by the efforts to improve its reliability and performance.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. Price and Consensus

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

LyondellBasell currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) , Arkema S.A. (OTC:ARKAY) and The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) .

Methanex has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15% and flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Its shares have gained 13.1% over a year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Arkema has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 13.1% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company’s shares have rallied 35.8% in a year.

Chemours has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15.5% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. Its shares have surged 51.1% over a year.

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