US Bancorp DE Sells 3,678 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 26.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,678 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Celanese were worth $692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $3,118,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Celanese by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 14,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 5,057 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $962,000. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup upgraded Celanese to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.31.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $54.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.42. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.94 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.86%.

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.