Tredje AP fonden Sells 12,620 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Tredje AP fonden decreased its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 30.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,185 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,620 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,899,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,560,608,000 after purchasing an additional 90,206 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 354,367 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Celanese by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,761,567,000 after buying an additional 329,740 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 worth $1,325,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,158,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,058,447,000 after acquiring an additional 21,085 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.13.

Celanese Price Performance

CE opened at $126.37 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.00 and a 200 day moving average of $145.24. The stock has a market cap of $13.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

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.