Amalgamated Bank Sells 11,956 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 35.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,956 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Celanese were worth $2,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $151.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.35.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE traded down $6.19 on Monday, hitting $78.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,703,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 885,840. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $125.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.87. The firm has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.31. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $78.44 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.