Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Sells 38,121 Shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 74.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,258 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 38,121 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 22,544 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,710,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 63,767 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after purchasing an additional 5,421 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $285,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new stake in LyondellBasell Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $2,976,000. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael Sean Hanley purchased 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.05 per share, for a total transaction of $270,187.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,817.40. The trade was a 30.54% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered LyondellBasell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $72.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.75.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Down 1.0%

LYB opened at $59.20 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.87. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52 week low of $51.11 and a 52 week high of $100.98.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $7.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 3.39%. LyondellBasell Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 165.43%.

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.