3,967 Shares in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Bought by Allianz SE

Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 45.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 107,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 65,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Celanese by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 147,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,986,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Celanese by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,296 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CE. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Vertical Research raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.94.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $57.14 on Monday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $45.94 and a 52 week high of $172.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of -4.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -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.