AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 45.5%, acquiring an additional 386,152 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1.23 million shares valued at $86.5 million.
• CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the company, resulting in a 11.09% decrease in his ownership, with the sale totaling over $1 million.
• Analyst price targets for LyondellBasell have been reduced, with BMO Capital Markets lowering their target from $60 to $58, and JPMorgan from $60 to $52, reflecting a cautious outlook on the stock.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 45.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,234,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 386,152 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.38% of LyondellBasell Industries worth $86,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.1% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 166.2% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 237,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $16,743,000 after buying an additional 148,500 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 44.3% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,019,000 after buying an additional 4,442 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 56.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 28.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,168 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.08.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 0.2%

LyondellBasell Industries stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.51. The stock had a trading volume of 721,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,906,530. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.77. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $47.55 and a fifty-two week high of $97.60. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $57.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 70.80 and a beta of 0.85.

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

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.1%. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is presently 711.69%.

Insider Activity

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

LyondellBasell Industries Profile

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.