Fisher Funds Management LTD Invests $2.24 Million in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 32,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 66.1% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at $14,566,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $1,453,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Celanese by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CE opened at $52.75 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.75. 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 fifty-two week low of $51.24 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.00.

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.