Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Stock Position Decreased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 61.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 102,639 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.06% of Celanese worth $4,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group increased its position in Celanese by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 200.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 51.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $57.14 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of -4.10, a PEG 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 $172.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised Celanese from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays cut their target price on Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.94.

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.