Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE CE opened at $76.54 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.56. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $71.38 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. 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 (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research cut 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. UBS Group cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.