Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 275,488 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,599,615 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 275,488 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.46% of Celanese worth $110,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group grew its position in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CE. StockNews.com cut Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.33.

Celanese Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:CE opened at $43.56 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.50 and a 200 day moving average of $70.81. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $36.29 and a 52 week high of $169.50.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

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

Celanese 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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