G&S Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 7,985 Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

G&S Capital LLC acquired a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,985 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,168,000 after acquiring an additional 36,701 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,879,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,910,000 after purchasing an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP increased its stake in Celanese by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 66,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.41.

Celanese Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $138.47 on Thursday. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $109.38 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $150.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 7.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

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.