Highland Capital Management LLC Acquires 12,940 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• Highland Capital Management increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 29.7%, acquiring an additional 12,940 shares, bringing their total holdings to 56,545 shares valued at $3.27 million.
• Analysts have revised their price targets for LYB, with Evercore ISI setting a new target at $65.00 and Mizuho at $54.00, reflecting a general consensus rating of "Hold" for the stock.
• LyondellBasell recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37, yielding 11.1%, despite a significant 711.69% dividend payout ratio.

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,940 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $3,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 10,932.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 212,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $14,943,000 after purchasing an additional 210,332 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 53.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 9.5% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 5.8% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,082 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter valued at about $80,000. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LYB shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $58.00 to $53.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.13.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,071,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 160,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,590,003.07. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

Shares of LYB opened at $49.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a PE ratio of 64.28 and a beta of 0.87. 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 $96.81. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $53.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.93.

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

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.