Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Makes New Investment in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $LYB

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. invested approximately $492,000 in LyondellBasell Industries by purchasing 6,988 shares in the first quarter.
• LyondellBasell announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 9.9%.
• CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares for approximately $1.07 million, reducing his stake in the company by 11.09%.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LYB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 7.7% in the 1st 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,432,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $452,852,000 after buying an additional 606,234 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,744,239 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $333,994,000 after buying an additional 534,456 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,490,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $316,113,000 after purchasing an additional 509,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,891,609 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $214,760,000 after purchasing an additional 287,028 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LYB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $72.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus lowered shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Peter Z. E. Vanacker sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 160,351 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 5.9%

LYB stock traded up $3.2460 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.7160. 7,920,792 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,568,035. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 12-month low of $47.55 and a 12-month high of $99.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.26 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.79.

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

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.3%. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is 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.