Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Celanese were worth $6,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CE. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 128.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CE shares. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their target price on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.59.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $73.21 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.55. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $71.38 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 7.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

About Celanese

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.