Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 19,868 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 79.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 19,868 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Celanese by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,969,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $274,714,000 after buying an additional 2,033,025 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $222,815,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,679,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $184,998,000 after acquiring an additional 73,498 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Celanese by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,688,619 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $116,869,000 after purchasing an additional 82,860 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,037,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $71,823,000 after purchasing an additional 46,856 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.19. 462,253 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,437,400. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $36.29 and a 52 week high of $169.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.10, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $50.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Celanese's payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.33.

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.