Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Celanese Corp. (NYSE:CE) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 625,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,410 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.42% of Celanese Corp. worth $40,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Celanese Corp. by 7.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,599,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,779,000 after buying an additional 520,647 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. boosted its position in shares of Celanese Corp. by 1.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. now owns 3,713,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,218,000 after buying an additional 67,196 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Celanese Corp. by 9.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,471,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,377,000 after buying an additional 303,971 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Celanese Corp. by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,244,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,460,000 after buying an additional 122,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Celanese Corp. by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,763,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,755,000 after buying an additional 297,757 shares during the last quarter.
Shares of Celanese Corp. (NYSE:CE) traded down 0.50% during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.40. 1,630,283 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.21. Celanese Corp. has a 1-year low of $54.35 and a 1-year high of $74.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 1st will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 28th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%.
Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Celanese Corp. from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup Inc. raised their target price on shares of Celanese Corp. from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Celanese Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Celanese Corp. from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 20th. Finally, Cowen and Company raised shares of Celanese Corp. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.95.
In other Celanese Corp. news, CEO Mark C. Rohr sold 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $1,195,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,083,248. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Farah M. Walters sold 14,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $1,005,136.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,956.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Celanese Corporation (Celanese) is a technology and specialty materials company. The Company operates through four segments: Advanced Engineered Materials, Consumer Specialties, Industrial Specialties and Acetyl Intermediates. Its business involves processing chemical raw materials, such as methanol, carbon monoxide, ethylene and natural products, including wood pulp, into chemicals, thermoplastic polymers and other chemical-based products.
