LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has decreased its position in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. by 20.7%, selling 4,673 shares and holding now 17,871 shares valued at approximately $1,258,000.
• LyondellBasell Industries reported an earnings miss for the last quarter with an EPS of $0.62, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.87, while revenue decreased 11.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a $1.37 quarterly dividend, resulting in a yield of 9.7% and a payout ratio of 711.69%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 20.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 4,673 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $1,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,959,576 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,522,043 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $123,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,169 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $650,465,000 after purchasing an additional 657,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter worth approximately $43,280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LYB shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Argus lowered 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.08.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In other news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $1,071,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 160,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,590,003.07. The trade was a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:LYB traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.04. The company had a trading volume of 4,225,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,036,538. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.48 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $58.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.34. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 12-month low of $47.55 and a 12-month high of $97.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.58 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 0.74%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given 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 10.0%. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is 711.69%.

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.