Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 358,694 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 107,779 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.33% of Celanese worth $23,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,201 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,430,000 after acquiring an additional 13,503 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 243,137 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Celanese by 32.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,050 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Celanese by 155.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,049,000 after purchasing an additional 130,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.
Celanese Stock Performance
Shares of CE stock traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,717,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,598,781. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.94 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $63.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.74. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of -4.16, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23.
Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.
Celanese Cuts Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.86%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.18.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CE
Celanese Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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