Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 8,562 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 66.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 8,562 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $2,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 76,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,319,000 after acquiring an additional 7,622 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 397.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 26,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,550,000 after purchasing an additional 21,430 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 276,364 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,277,000 after purchasing an additional 11,569 shares during the last quarter. Coombe Bender & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Coombe Bender & Co LLC now owns 24,316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $229,000. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LYB. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.75.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:LYB opened at $99.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12-month low of $84.80 and a 12-month high of $106.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.18.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.70 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. LyondellBasell Industries’s payout ratio is 77.28%.

Insider Transactions at LyondellBasell Industries

In related news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 9,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,847,899.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total value of $711,729.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,770,460.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 9,489 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.92, for a total transaction of $938,651.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,847,899.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,853 shares of company stock valued at $8,077,267. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.