Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 230 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position 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 during the period. CKW Financial Group lifted its position in Celanese by 52.9% during 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 position in Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Celanese by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.53.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $52.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.79, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.25 and its 200 day moving average is $97.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $51.24 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

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

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -20.10%.

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.