Dow Chemical Co (DOW): Today's Featured Chemicals Winner

Dow Chemical (DOW) pushed the Chemicals industry higher today making it today's featured chemicals winner. The industry as a whole closed the day up 0.5%. By the end of trading, Dow Chemical rose 16 cents (0.5%) to $29.99 on light volume. Throughout the day, 5.4 million shares of Dow Chemical exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 10 million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $29.87-$30.28 after having opened the day at $29.97 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $29.83. Other companies within the Chemicals industry that increased today were: Cereplast (CERP), up 6.5%, Braskem (BAK), up 5.7%, Senomyx (SNMX), up 5.4%, and Valhi Incorporated (VHI), up 5.2%.

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The Dow Chemical Company manufactures and supplies chemical products used as raw materials in the manufacture of customer products and services worldwide. Dow Chemical has a market cap of $34.84 billion and is part of the conglomerates sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 18.4, equal to the average conglomerates industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 1.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there are three analysts that rate Dow Chemical a buy, three analysts rate it a sell, and 10 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Dow Chemical as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

• You can view the full Dow Chemical Ratings Report.

On the negative front, Gevo (GEVO), down 8%, Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE), down 7.8%, NL Industries (NL), down 5.2%, and Ceres (CERE), down 4.5%, were all laggards within the chemicals industry with Praxair (PX) being today's chemicals industry laggard.

• Use our chemicals section to find industry-relevant news.
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For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the chemicals industry could consider Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) while those bearish on the chemicals industry could consider ProShares Short Basic Materials Fd (SBM).

• Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.

For more information on Dow Chemical Co click any of the following:

• Dow Chemical Co Stock Price

• Dow Chemical Co Analyst Ratings

• Dow Chemical Co Key Stats & Profile

• Dow Chemical Co Earnings

• Dow Chemical Co Ratio Comparison

• Dow Chemical Co Growth Rates

• Dow Chemical Co Balance Sheet

• Dow Chemical Co Cash Flow

• Dow Chemical Co Income Statement