LyondellBasell Industries
This top chemical company with a sterling balance sheet is a solid buy for conservative investors. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) manufactures chemicals and polymers, refines crude oil, produces gasoline blending components and develops and licenses technologies for production of polymers.
Over half of earnings are generated in the company’s Olefins and Polyolefins Americas segment, where costs are linked to the price of cheap natural gas in the United States, while selling prices are correlated with the price of oil. The company has pursued a strategy of low cost, high return on invested capital debottlenecks coupled with cash returns to shareholders.
Note that debottlenecking is the process of identifying specific areas or equipment in oil and gas facilities that limit the flow of product (known as bottlenecks) and optimizing them so that overall capacity in the plant can be increased.
LyondellBasell Industries stock investors receive a 4.90% dividend. The $109 Wells Fargo price target is higher than the consensus target of $100.42 and Wednesday’s close at $99.34.
Prudential Financial
Shares of this top financial services and insurance company are cheap at current trading levels. Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) provides insurance, investment management and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally.
The company offers investment management services and solutions related to public fixed income, public equity, real estate debt and equity, private credit and other alternatives, and multi-asset class strategies to institutional and retail clients, as well as its general account. It also provides a range of retirement investment, and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors; and group life, long-term and short-term group disability, and group corporate-, bank- and trust-owned life insurance in the United States, primarily to institutional clients for use in connection with employee and membership benefits plans. It also sells accidental death and dismemberment, and other supplemental health solutions, and it provides plan administration services in connection with its insurance coverages.
In addition, Prudential Financial develops and distributes individual variable and fixed annuity products, principally to the mass affluent and affluent markets, and individual variable, term and universal life insurance products to the mass middle, mass affluent and affluent markets in the United States. Further, it provides third-party life, health, Medicare, property and casualty, and term life products to retail shoppers through its digital and independent agent channels. The company offers its products and services to individual and institutional customers through its proprietary and third-party distribution networks.
Shareholders receive a 5.10% dividend. Prudential Financial stock has a price target of $114 at J.P. Morgan. The consensus target is $96.54, and shares closed on Wednesday at $95.07.
Starwood Property Trust
This high-yielding real estate investment trust is run by real estate legend Barry Sternlicht and offers big-time total return potential. Starwood Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: STWD) operates in the United States, Europe and Australia through the following segments.
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