Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Holdings in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $1,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,170,183,000 after purchasing an additional 230,327 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,582,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $637,394,000 after buying an additional 558,137 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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. grew its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 3.7% during the 3rd 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, Amundi raised its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,858,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $283,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260,913 shares during the last quarter. 71.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $96.00 to $86.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Michael Sean Hanley purchased 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $72.05 per share, with a total value of $270,187.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,817.40. This represents a 30.54 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LyondellBasell Industries Price Performance

LyondellBasell Industries stock opened at $70.44 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.94. LyondellBasell Industries has a 1 year low of $69.15 and a 1 year high of $107.02.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 129.47%.

LyondellBasell Industries Company 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.