LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) Shares Sold by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,042,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 73,800 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $77,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,582,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $637,394,000 after acquiring an additional 558,137 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $512,913,000 after purchasing an additional 199,054 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,826,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $432,721,000 after purchasing an additional 694,055 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,229,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $501,501,000 after purchasing an additional 187,150 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $283,452,000 after buying an additional 1,260,913 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LYB shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered LyondellBasell Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $86.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.50.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Down 9.3 %

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $54.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12-month low of $51.11 and a 12-month high of $107.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.97 and a 200 day moving average of $78.72.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 15.97%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is currently 129.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Michael Sean Hanley acquired 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.05 per share, for a total transaction of $270,187.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,817.40. The trade was a 30.54 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About LyondellBasell Industries

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.