Caprock Group LLC Grows Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 210.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,593 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CE. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Celanese by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 35,898 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 12,553 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Celanese by 14.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 15,643 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 447.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Celanese by 41.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,071,000 after purchasing an additional 37,577 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $120.50. 1,062,490 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 756,051. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $132.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.37.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Insider Activity at Celanese

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.