KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 25,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,737,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 45.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,612 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 12.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,306 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,809,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 107,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,949,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 8.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 65,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Celanese by 12.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 147,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,986,000 after acquiring an additional 16,308 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CE. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.94.

Celanese Trading Down 0.8 %

CE stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $56.76. 2,271,911 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,812,391. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.62 and a 200-day moving average of $84.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of -4.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $45.94 and a 1 year high of $172.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. Analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.86%.

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.