Viking Fund Management LLC Increases Stock Position in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB)

Viking Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) by 400.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,686,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 221,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,679,000 after buying an additional 18,901 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 282,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,512,000 after buying an additional 21,809 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,607,000. Finally, Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the second quarter worth about $1,416,000. 71.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on LyondellBasell Industries from $117.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $106.00 to $101.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $113.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LyondellBasell Industries has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.40.

LyondellBasell Industries Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE LYB traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,766,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,825,915. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.45. The firm has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.07. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52-week low of $88.46 and a 52-week high of $107.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.44 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. LyondellBasell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.39%.

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.