Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. decreased its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $953,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $1,325,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,758 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Celanese by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after purchasing an additional 468,003 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,031,776,000 after purchasing an additional 354,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Celanese by 3.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 329,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on CE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.75.

Celanese Stock Up 0.6 %

Celanese stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $136.90. 878,665 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 720,769. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $142.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.75. The company has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.76 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 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.