KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $1.74 Million Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,737,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 200.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $57.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $45.94 and a 1 year high of $172.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CE. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Celanese from $75.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.94.

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.