Pitcairn Co. Increases Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 18.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 454 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 45.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Celanese by 7.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 10.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its position in Celanese by 45.0% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 14,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 4,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE opened at $72.85 on Wednesday. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $71.38 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.97.

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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.59.

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.