LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB Position Raised by NFJ Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 420.6%, acquiring an additional 125,664 shares, bringing its total holdings to 155,543 shares valued at approximately $10.95 million.
• Analysts have recently lowered their price targets for LyondellBasell Industries, with JPMorgan setting a new target of $52.00 and UBS lowering it to $44.00, reflecting a shift in sentiment towards the stock.
• LyondellBasell Industries announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, yielding about 10.1%, despite a notably high dividend payout ratio of 711.69%.

NFJ Investment Group LLC raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 420.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 125,664 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $10,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LYB. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 3,502.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,015,528 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $141,893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,576 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 207.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,522,043 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 137.9% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,760,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $123,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,169 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,239,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $650,465,000 after acquiring an additional 657,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.20% of the company's stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

LYB traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.04. 4,225,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,065,414. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.12. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 12 month low of $47.55 and a 12 month high of $97.60. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.48 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 (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). 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 the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.0%. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 711.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LYB. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank Of America (Bofa) decreased their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $64.00 to $54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.08.

Insider Transactions at LyondellBasell Industries

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

LyondellBasell Industries Company 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.