Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Stock Position in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 66.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,562 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.'s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $2,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LYB. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $339,624,000 after buying an additional 935,430 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,085,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $386,894,000 after acquiring an additional 815,083 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 10.3% in the 3rd 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. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,160,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3,162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 614,259 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $58,170,000 after purchasing an additional 595,431 shares during the period. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LYB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.08.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of LYB stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $99.74. 1,621,007 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,922,217. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.12. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52 week low of $84.80 and a 52 week high of $106.69. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $101.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.79.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.70 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 5.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.01%. LyondellBasell Industries's payout ratio is presently 77.28%.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan sold 18,111 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total value of $1,819,431.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,246.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 9,489 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.92, for a total transaction of $938,651.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,847,899.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan sold 18,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total transaction of $1,819,431.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,233,246.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,853 shares of company stock worth $8,077,267. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.