Virtu Financial LLC Takes $376,000 Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $953,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after buying an additional 468,003 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,761,567,000 after buying an additional 329,740 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,596,947,000 after buying an additional 323,862 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,560,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $139.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.90. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.34. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $105.15 and a one year high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CE shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.41.

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.