LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB Stock: Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its LyondellBasell stake by 77% in the third quarter, selling 38,078 shares and retaining 11,346 shares valued at approximately $652,000.
• Other major institutions, including BlackRock, State Street and Royal Bank of Canada, increased their positions; institutional investors collectively own 71.2% of LYB.
• LYB traded at $67.07, while analysts held a consensus “Hold” rating with a $71.50 price target. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, representing a 4.1% yield.

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 77.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,346 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 38,078 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 16.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,298,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,542,585,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185,571 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 9.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,734,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $775,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,833 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 23.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,534,647 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $284,750,000 after purchasing an additional 660,340 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,848,621 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $148,925,000 after buying an additional 262,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,547,735 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $124,686,000 after buying an additional 492,753 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Down 0.5%

LyondellBasell Industries stock opened at $67.07 on Thursday. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a one year low of $41.58 and a one year high of $83.94. The stock has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of -59.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.41.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.86. LyondellBasell Industries had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a positive return on equity of 17.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is currently -244.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Citigroup cut LyondellBasell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $63.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.50.

LyondellBasell Industries Profile

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is a global chemical company that produces polymers, chemicals and related products used in packaging, transportation, construction, healthcare, consumer goods and other industries. Its portfolio includes polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced polymers, propylene oxide, solvents, acetyls and other chemical intermediates.

The company also operates businesses involved in refining and in the development and licensing of chemical and polymer technologies. Its products are used to manufacture items such as food and beverage packaging, automotive components, medical products, coatings, adhesives and household goods.

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