Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New $956,000 Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,819 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 739.1% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE CE traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.46. 1,409,368 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,945. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.11 and a 200 day moving average of $60.35. 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 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $153.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. The business 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%. The company's revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Celanese from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.94.

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.