Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service reduced its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 76.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 179,501 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group increased its holdings in Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the third quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the third quarter valued at about $103,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.31.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $50.91 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.60. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $49.22 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17.

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. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio 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.