Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 1.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $4,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Celanese by 3,933.3% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $68.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $98.61 and its 200 day moving average is $122.09. The stock has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Vertical Research lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.56.

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.