Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 465,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,499 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $63,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc grew 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 purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CE shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.59.

Celanese Price Performance

CE opened at $72.86 on Thursday. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $71.38 and a 12-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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.33, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $118.58 and a 200-day moving average of $132.00.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued 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). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 28.17%.

Celanese 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.