Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. by 125.5%, acquiring an additional 85,192 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total to 153,075 shares valued at approximately $10.79 million.
• CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock, marking an 11.09% decrease in his ownership, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for LyondellBasell Industries with one strong-buy, two buy, nine hold, and two sell ratings; the average price target stands at $63.08.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 125.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 85,192 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $10,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 3,502.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,015,528 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $141,893,000 after buying an additional 1,959,576 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 207.8% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,254,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $167,448,000 after buying an additional 1,522,043 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 137.9% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,760,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $123,907,000 after buying an additional 1,020,169 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,239,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $650,465,000 after buying an additional 657,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter valued at $43,280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $1,071,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 160,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,590,003.07. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LYB. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $72.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.08.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 5.9%

NYSE:LYB traded up $3.2460 on Friday, hitting $58.7160. The stock had a trading volume of 7,920,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,568,035. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $18.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.79. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 1-year low of $47.55 and a 1-year high of $99.36.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.25). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 0.74%.The company had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 711.69%.

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.