UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 12,248 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,248 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 200.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock opened at $57.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.10, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $45.94 and a twelve month high of $172.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.34.

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

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -0.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.94.

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.