Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Position in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 51.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,569 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 7,901 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 207.8% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,254,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $167,448,000 after buying an additional 1,522,043 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $283,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,913 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth $81,015,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the fourth quarter worth $69,115,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 16,965,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,260,052,000 after purchasing an additional 851,365 shares in the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LYB shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.75.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of LYB traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $58.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,176,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,890,340. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 1 year low of $51.11 and a 1 year high of $100.46. The firm has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock's 50 day moving average is $57.96 and its 200 day moving average is $67.67.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.69 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 2.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from LyondellBasell Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 169.14%.

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.