Optimist Retirement Group LLC Sells 10,886 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC cut its stake in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,723 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,886 shares during the quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,202,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,170,183,000 after purchasing an additional 230,327 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 4.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,023,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $769,500,000 after acquiring an additional 362,671 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,605,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $638,964,000 after acquiring an additional 277,108 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 3.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,229,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $501,501,000 after acquiring an additional 187,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,875,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $268,664,000 after purchasing an additional 293,622 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LYB. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $86.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut LyondellBasell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.06 per share, with a total value of $380,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,390.50. This represents a 37.95 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LYB opened at $77.00 on Thursday. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $72.21 and a 52-week high of $107.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.83. The stock has a market cap of $25.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.05.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.53). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 3.39%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 129.47%.

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.