Bailard Inc. Takes $784,000 Position in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $339,624,000 after purchasing an additional 935,430 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 24.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,085,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $386,894,000 after purchasing an additional 815,083 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position 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 last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries during the third quarter worth about $67,160,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 3,162.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 614,259 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $58,170,000 after purchasing an additional 595,431 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LYB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Vertical Research upgraded shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.82.

Insider Transactions at LyondellBasell Industries

In other news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 9,489 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.92, for a total value of $938,651.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,847,899.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total transaction of $711,729.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 80,853 shares of company stock worth $8,077,267. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 2.5 %

LyondellBasell Industries stock traded up $2.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,651,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,825. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $84.80 and a 52-week high of $106.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $33.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.17. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 21.89%. The company had revenue of $9.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.28%.

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.