Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Stock Holdings Decreased by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,465 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 30,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Natixis raised its position in Celanese by 1,026.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 55,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,844,000 after buying an additional 50,612 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in Celanese by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 5,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Celanese by 316.6% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 11,300 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Celanese by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,599,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,704,000 after acquiring an additional 275,488 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE opened at $41.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of -2.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $36.29 and a twelve month high of $169.50.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders 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 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CE. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.33.

Celanese Company 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.