Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Celanese worth $21,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group grew its stake in Celanese by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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Celanese Stock Up 0.5 %

Celanese stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,628,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,713,209. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $45.94 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $63.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.30.

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

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. Celanese's payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.18.

About Celanese

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.