Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 33,909 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC has increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 40.1% during the second quarter, now owning 118,511 shares valued at approximately $6.86 million.
• Several institutional investors have modified their stakes in LyondellBasell, with CX Institutional and UMB Bank n.a. increasing their positions significantly by 63.8% and 174.6% respectively.
• LyondellBasell's recent earnings report showed a miss in EPS at $0.62, falling short of the estimated $0.87, while the company reported revenues of $7.66 billion, indicating an 11.8% decline year-over-year.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 40.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,511 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,909 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $6,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LYB. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 249,852 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $14,456,000 after acquiring an additional 102,140 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 166.2% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 237,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $16,743,000 after acquiring an additional 148,500 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in 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 worth $1,019,000 after buying an additional 4,442 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 56.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the period. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYB traded down $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.94. 2,329,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,005,991. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 1-year low of $47.55 and a 1-year high of $97.60. The company has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.11 and a beta of 0.85. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $56.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.37. 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 (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 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 firm had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. LyondellBasell Industries's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.8%. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is presently 711.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LyondellBasell Industries

In related news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.00.

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.