Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 32,856 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 70.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,856 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.07% of Celanese worth $5,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CE. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.31.

Celanese Trading Up 7.5 %

NYSE:CE opened at $57.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $45.94 and a 52 week high of $172.16. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $63.81 and a 200 day moving average of $89.83.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.86%.

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.