KBC Group NV Raises Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 139.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 512,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 298,596 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.47% of Celanese worth $35,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,420 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the second quarter valued at $2,937,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 34,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,718,000 after buying an additional 4,867 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth $610,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Celanese by 691.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,811,000 after acquiring an additional 31,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock opened at $74.12 on Tuesday. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.05 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.28.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Celanese from $98.00 to $77.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.82.

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.