Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 38.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in shares of Celanese by 0.6% during the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 13,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Celanese by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in Celanese by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock opened at $136.18 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $110.76 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.29.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company’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 company posted $2.17 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.