Everence Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 20,010 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $7,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,852,225 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,172,226,000 after purchasing an additional 335,124 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 2.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,322,280 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,266,977,000 after purchasing an additional 348,169 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 10.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,408,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $796,290,000 after purchasing an additional 787,221 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 9.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,305,596 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $597,140,000 after purchasing an additional 569,887 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.0% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,667,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $536,752,000 after buying an additional 217,461 shares in the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Vertical Research raised LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.82.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of LYB stock traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $99.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,371,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,342. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.19. LyondellBasell Industries has a twelve month low of $84.80 and a twelve month high of $106.69. The stock's 50 day moving average is $100.12 and its 200 day moving average is $96.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $9.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.85 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 21.89%. LyondellBasell Industries's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is currently 77.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $2,899,224.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,758 shares in the company, valued at $9,101,476.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total transaction of $711,729.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $2,899,224.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,101,476.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,853 shares of company stock valued at $8,077,267. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About LyondellBasell Industries

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.