Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 585,061 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 176,869 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.54% of Celanese worth $40,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CKW Financial Group grew its stake in Celanese by 52.9% during 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Celanese by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Celanese Price Performance
NYSE CE traded up $2.50 on Friday, hitting $40.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,590,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,057. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of -2.87, a PEG 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $52.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.51.
Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.
Celanese Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.86%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.33.
View Our Latest Report on Celanese
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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