Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 608.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 689,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 592,196 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.63% of Celanese worth $93,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Celanese by 155.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,049,000 after purchasing an additional 130,037 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 41,598 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 447.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Celanese by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 154.7% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 31,409 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 19,075 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE traded down $0.78 on Monday, hitting $73.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,819,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,401. The company has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company's fifty day moving average price is $121.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CE. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Celanese from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of Celanese from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.35.

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.