Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,285 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Celanese worth $16,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CE. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1,395.3% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CE stock opened at $66.41 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $64.05 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CE. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.06.

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.