Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 684,008 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,562 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.63% of Celanese worth $47,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $611,931,000 after purchasing an additional 136,994 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,814,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Celanese by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 147,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,986,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Vertical Research raised shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three investment 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.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Celanese Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CE traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $59.54. The stock had a trading volume of 4,724,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,661. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50 day moving average is $62.84 and its 200-day moving average is $86.25. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $45.94 and a 1 year high of $172.16. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.