Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 465,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,499 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Celanese worth $63,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 155.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 213,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,049,000 after buying an additional 130,037 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Celanese by 21.7% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 233,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 41,598 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 447.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 264.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 14,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,754,000 after purchasing an additional 592,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CE shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.59.

Celanese Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $72.86 on Thursday. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $71.38 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $118.58 and a 200-day moving average of $132.00.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

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.