New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $18.27 Million Stock Position in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 192,140 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 34,730 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $18,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $14,000,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,085,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $386,894,000 after buying an additional 815,083 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $2,001,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $1,426,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 390.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 77,917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 62,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the company’s stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LYB opened at $102.13 on Monday. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $84.80 and a 52-week high of $106.69. The company has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.12.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.17. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $9.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. LyondellBasell Industries’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $2,899,224.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,101,476.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,853 shares of company stock worth $8,077,267 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut LyondellBasell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $107.00 target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.82.

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.