Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $209,000 in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 3,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 128.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Celanese by 124.0% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 1,395.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the third quarter valued at $89,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 2.1 %

CE opened at $64.88 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 6.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $64.36 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.60.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.33.

Celanese Company 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.