Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 784 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LYB. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 211.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,283,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,055,000 after acquiring an additional 871,708 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,023,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $769,500,000 after acquiring an additional 362,671 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 11.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,875,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $268,664,000 after acquiring an additional 293,622 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $638,964,000 after acquiring an additional 277,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 947,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,379,000 after acquiring an additional 270,694 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $86.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.25.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.06 per share, with a total value of $380,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,390.50. This represents a 37.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $77.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.05. LyondellBasell Industries has a fifty-two week low of $72.21 and a fifty-two week high of $107.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.77 and a 200-day moving average of $84.78.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.