The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 225,047 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Free Report) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,214,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 225,047 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.37% of LyondellBasell Industries worth $90,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 346 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 268.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 405 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 107.6% during the fourth 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. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LYB. UBS Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $76.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $72.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LyondellBasell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael Sean Hanley bought 3,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $72.05 per share, with a total value of $270,187.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,154,817.40. This represents a 30.54 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.34. The stock had a trading volume of 3,085,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,936. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1 year low of $51.11 and a 1 year high of $107.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $7.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.69 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 3.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 165.43%.

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.