Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Position Cut by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,812 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Celanese by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $611,931,000 after acquiring an additional 136,994 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 130,037 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in Celanese by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,814,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Celanese by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 41,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $134,723,000 after acquiring an additional 69,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Trading Down 21.5 %

Celanese stock traded down $15.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,312,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,460,540. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $52.97 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The stock's fifty day moving average is $69.16 and its 200 day moving average is $98.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.11 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on CE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Celanese to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.00.

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.