CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,463 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 19,413 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in Celanese were worth $2,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CE. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 14.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 281,709 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $38,300,000 after buying an additional 34,658 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its position in Celanese by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 17,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Celanese during the third quarter worth about $179,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the third quarter worth about $1,302,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 11.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,201 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $17,430,000 after purchasing an additional 13,503 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:CE opened at $43.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $169.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $49.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of -3.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CE shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.33.

Celanese Company 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.

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