Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 243,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $33,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CE. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Celanese by 0.4% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 27,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 6.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

CE stock opened at $73.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.74. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $72.78 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CE shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.35.

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.