Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Stock Holdings Boosted by Central Pacific Bank Trust Division

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 102.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Celanese were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Celanese by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 6.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 12.6% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 50,956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,873,000 after purchasing an additional 5,694 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Celanese by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 208,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,146,000 after buying an additional 3,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,423,000 after buying an additional 27,681 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Trading Down 3.3 %

Celanese stock opened at $66.13 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $66.11 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.96.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

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.