Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $24.87 Million Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 316.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 359,423 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 273,087 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.33% of Celanese worth $24,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. Norges Bank bought a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter worth $222,815,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 1,453.1% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 953,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $66,013,000 after purchasing an additional 892,391 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Celanese by 768.8% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 423,887 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,337,000 after purchasing an additional 375,095 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Celanese by 139.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 512,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,453,000 after buying an additional 298,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Celanese by 353.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 327,582 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,672,000 after buying an additional 255,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Celanese from $55.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.61.

Celanese Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE CE traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.41. 648,405 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,938,820. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $36.29 and a one year high of $169.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.41.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese's payout ratio 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.