Comerica Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Comerica Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,030 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 157.8% in the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in Celanese by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 8,269 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $555,000. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at $768,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 6.9 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $51.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.20. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $36.29 and a 52-week high of $169.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.72, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.89.

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.