Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 17,749 LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired 17,749 shares of LyondellBasell Industries, valued at approximately $1,027,000, during the second quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest in the company.
• CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares at a price of $53.57, reducing his ownership by 11.09%, while corporate insiders own only 0.14% of the stock.
• Research analysts have set a consensus price target of $64.00 for LyondellBasell, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell, reflecting mixed investor sentiment.

Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,749 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LYB. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3,502.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,959,576 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $123,907,000 after buying an additional 1,020,169 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $650,465,000 after buying an additional 657,443 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter worth about $43,280,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 10.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,432,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $452,852,000 after buying an additional 606,234 shares during the period. 71.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 160,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,590,003.07. The trade was a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LYB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.00.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:LYB opened at $49.48 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $54.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.90. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 52 week low of $47.55 and a 52 week high of $97.60. The company has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.77.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.1%. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 711.69%.

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.

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