Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Holdings Trimmed by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden lessened its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 30.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,185 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,620 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Celanese were worth $3,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Celanese in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $3.72 during trading on Thursday, hitting $130.09. 1,177,105 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,765. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $130.82 and its 200 day moving average is $145.14. The stock has a market cap of $14.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.