Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 7,474 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $6,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 18.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,038,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $99,557,000 after purchasing an additional 159,803 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,229,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $501,501,000 after buying an additional 187,150 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 61,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,936,000 after buying an additional 11,610 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 202.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 8,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 6.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 307,496 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,311 shares in the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of LYB opened at $77.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.46. LyondellBasell Industries has a one year low of $72.21 and a one year high of $107.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.06.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $10.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 5.29%. LyondellBasell Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.06 per share, for a total transaction of $380,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,175 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,390.50. This represents a 37.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LYB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $97.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.33.

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.