Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 680.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,094 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 133,477 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.14% of Celanese worth $10,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Caption Management LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CE traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $52.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,749,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,144. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.29 and a fifty-two week high of $161.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of -3.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Celanese's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.23%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CE. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.06.

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.