Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 24.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,842 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 29,307 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.08% of Celanese worth $6,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Celanese by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.29. 3,476,650 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,661,123. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $51.24 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.57 and a 200-day moving average of $97.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. As a group, analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -20.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Celanese to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.53.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.