US Bancorp DE Sells 469 Shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its position in shares of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Celanese were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in Celanese by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,618,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $942,506,000 after buying an additional 6,818,993 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 266.7% in the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $242,681,000 after buying an additional 2,550,334 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 4,506.7% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,344,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,274,000 after buying an additional 2,293,764 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 9,132.0% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,801,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,263,000 after buying an additional 1,781,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Celanese by 891.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,521,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,308,000 after buying an additional 1,368,104 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $47.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10. Celanese Corporation has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $142.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 16.54% and a positive return on equity of 11.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.79%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

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.