LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) Shares Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 36.5%, acquiring a total of 28,825 shares valued at approximately $2.03 million.
• LyondellBasell reported $0.62 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' estimates, while the company's quarterly revenue decreased by 11.8% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.37, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 11.2%, although the dividend payout ratio is significantly high at 711.69%.

Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 36.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,825 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,715 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 352.3% in the 1st quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 177.6% during the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 408 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 466 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 107.6% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 548 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LYB. Bank Of America (Bofa) lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $56.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. 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 note on Thursday, August 7th. Fermium Researc upgraded LyondellBasell Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Argus downgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.08.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

NYSE LYB traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.39. 4,023,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,918,816. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has a 12-month low of $47.55 and a 12-month high of $99.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.16 and a 200 day moving average of $63.88. The company has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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 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 business had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. The company's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries N.V. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. 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.