Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CE. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $962,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $2,238,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $14,566,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $1,453,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CE shares. StockNews.com lowered Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.31.

Celanese Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $50.91 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.69 and a 200-day moving average of $94.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of -3.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $49.22 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.86%.

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.