Citigroup Inc. Has $28.69 Million Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Citigroup Inc. cut its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 211,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 25,821 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.19% of Celanese worth $28,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of CE stock opened at $76.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.70, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.31. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $71.38 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.56.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CE. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.59.

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.