Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 250.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,331,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $406,726,000 after buying an additional 3,096,710 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 205.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,454,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $458,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,995,335 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 170.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,331,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $276,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099,644 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 490.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,464,618 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $134,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $339,624,000 after purchasing an additional 935,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total transaction of $711,729.48. Following 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael C. Mcmurray sold 16,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.84, for a total value of $1,708,229.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,960,440.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,853 shares of company stock valued at $8,077,267. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LYB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research raised LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.82.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Up 0.6 %

LYB stock opened at $99.70 on Thursday. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52 week low of $84.80 and a 52 week high of $106.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.11.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $9.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.85 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 21.89% and a net margin of 5.16%. The business’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.28%.

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.