Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 177,552 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,606,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 177,552 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.39% of Celanese worth $353,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Celanese by 27.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,460,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,286,230,000 after buying an additional 2,036,362 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Celanese by 608.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 592,196 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 528.9% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,523 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,142,000 after purchasing an additional 219,095 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $156,663,000 after purchasing an additional 150,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 136,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,360,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,241. The stock has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.89. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's payout ratio is presently 28.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp lowered Celanese from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.56.

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.