UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Reduces Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lowered its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 448,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 24,672 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.41% of Celanese worth $31,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CE. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of Celanese by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,618,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $942,506,000 after acquiring an additional 6,818,993 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $222,815,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 266.7% during the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $242,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550,334 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 4,506.7% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,344,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $162,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,969,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $274,714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $54.56. 1,671,498 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,203,832. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.29 and a fifty-two week high of $152.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $47.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.05. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio is currently -0.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Celanese from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Celanese from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.94.

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.