APG Asset Management N.V. Has $5.28 Million Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 13.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,938 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $5,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $953,653,000 after buying an additional 1,852,099 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Celanese by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after buying an additional 1,302,758 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Celanese by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after buying an additional 468,003 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,031,776,000 after buying an additional 354,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Celanese by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,761,567,000 after buying an additional 329,740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Down 0.4 %

CE stock opened at $139.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.04. The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $110.76 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

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.