Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Acquired by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the second quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE opened at $126.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.29. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. KeyCorp downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.44.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.