Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 79.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 416,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,587,478 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.38% of Celanese worth $28,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 739.1% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on CE shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,420,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,199,829. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $36.29 and a 12-month high of $153.71. The company has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is presently -0.79%.

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.