Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Stock Position Decreased by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,797 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in Celanese by 17.9% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 21,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 8.8% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 6,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 4,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 1,074.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after acquiring an additional 19,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $127.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.03 and a 200-day moving average of $139.09. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $110.76 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 15.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Vertical Research lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.44.

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.