Texas Yale Capital Corp. Reduces Stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Texas Yale Capital Corp. lowered its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 72.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,066 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp.’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,582,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $637,394,000 after acquiring an additional 558,137 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,804,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $512,913,000 after buying an additional 199,054 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,826,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $432,721,000 after buying an additional 694,055 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in 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 worth $501,501,000 after buying an additional 187,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $283,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,913 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

NYSE LYB opened at $59.90 on Thursday. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1-year low of $51.11 and a 1-year high of $107.02. The company has a market capitalization of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 15.97%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is 129.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on LYB shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut LyondellBasell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut LyondellBasell Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $76.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael Sean Hanley purchased 3,750 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.11% 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.