Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 281,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,658 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.26% of Celanese worth $38,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,500,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $611,931,000 after buying an additional 136,994 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Celanese by 155.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,049,000 after acquiring an additional 130,037 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in Celanese by 6.5% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 160,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,814,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Celanese by 21.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 41,598 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Down 0.3 %

CE stock opened at $68.63 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $98.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Vertical Research lowered shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.56.

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.