Pitcairn Co. Sells 110 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Pitcairn Co. lessened its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 142.1% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Celanese in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the first quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE traded up $0.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $136.90. 878,665 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 720,769. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.75.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.75.

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.