Quest Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 76.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,071 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Celanese by 128.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% in the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter valued at $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 0.4 %

Celanese stock opened at $74.70 on Monday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $71.38 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Celanese’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Vertical Research downgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Celanese 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.