Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,032 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $5,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 0.6% in the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 13,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Celanese by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Celanese by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,028,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE opened at $123.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $131.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.01. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $110.76 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

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.