LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 22.1%, now owning approximately 0.17% of the company valued at $37.4 million.
• Brokerages have lowered their price targets for LyondellBasell stock, with analysts setting a new average target price of $63.08 after several ratings adjustments.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37, yielding 10.3%, despite a 711.69% payout ratio, indicating potential concerns about sustainability.

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 22.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 531,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 96,252 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.17% of LyondellBasell Industries worth $37,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 352.3% in the 1st quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 177.6% in the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 408 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 466 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LYB. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.08.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of LYB opened at $53.38 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.05 and its 200-day moving average is $63.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.04. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 12-month low of $47.55 and a 12-month high of $99.36.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 0.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is currently 711.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of LyondellBasell Industries 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 directly owned 160,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,590,003.07. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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