Axa S.A. Buys Shares of 4,520 Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Axa S.A. purchased a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,520 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $953,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Celanese by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after buying an additional 1,302,758 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Celanese by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,300,907,000 after acquiring an additional 468,003 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,031,776,000 after acquiring an additional 354,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,761,567,000 after purchasing an additional 329,740 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $135.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $129.45 and its 200 day moving average is $143.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $110.76 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

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.