Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 13,503 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,503 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Celanese worth $17,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CE. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 128.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Key Financial Inc raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter worth about $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $73.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $72.94 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $123.30 and its 200 day moving average is $134.89.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 6.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Celanese from $151.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.35.

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.