Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Stock Position Reduced by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC trimmed its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 16.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,497 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 483 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Celanese by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,196,000 after acquiring an additional 35,898 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Celanese by 109.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Celanese by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,011,000 after buying an additional 15,643 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Celanese by 447.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Celanese by 41.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,071,000 after buying an additional 37,577 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $126.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.94. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $110.76 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup cut their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.13.

About Celanese

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.