Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 273,767 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,952 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.25% of Celanese worth $18,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 157.8% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 8,269 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $555,000. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $768,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Down 0.3 %

CE stock opened at $43.56 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $36.29 and a 12 month high of $169.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.25.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Celanese from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.33.

About Celanese

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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