Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Reduces Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 89.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,356 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 68,823 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 35,898 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Celanese by 109.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 12,553 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 14.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,011,000 after acquiring an additional 15,643 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 447.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 5,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $22,071,000 after purchasing an additional 37,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CE traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $120.36. 1,097,590 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 750,517. The company has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $110.76 and a one year high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $132.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.58.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.13.

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.