American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 19.8% in the first quarter, owning 445,332 shares valued at approximately $31.35 million.
• LyondellBasell reported its quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $0.62, missing estimates, and a revenue of $7.66 billion, exceeding expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 9.9%.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 19.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 445,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 73,595 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of LyondellBasell Industries worth $31,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 188,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $14,013,000 after buying an additional 39,957 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,108,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 420,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,241,000 after purchasing an additional 19,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 291,384 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $21,486,000 after purchasing an additional 162,841 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

LYB stock traded up $3.2460 on Friday, reaching $58.7160. 7,920,792 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,677,768. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.57 and a 200-day moving average of $62.69. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a twelve month low of $47.55 and a twelve month high of $99.36. The firm has a market cap of $18.89 billion, a PE ratio of 76.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 0.74%.The business had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. The company's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LYB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Argus cut LyondellBasell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen cut LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank Of America (Bofa) cut their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $1,071,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 160,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,590,003.07. This represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.