CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 930 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 930 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.05% of Celanese worth $10,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Celanese by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 35,898 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Celanese by 109.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after buying an additional 12,553 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Celanese by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 122,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,011,000 after acquiring an additional 15,643 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 128,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,071,000 after acquiring an additional 37,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after acquiring an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $136.90 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $110.76 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $142.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.75.

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.