Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases Shares of 28,201 Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 28,201 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $3,736,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Celanese by 155.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 23,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 14,184 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Celanese by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,873 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 58,476 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 10,798 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Celanese from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler restated 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 decreased their price target on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.94.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,078,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,884. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.06. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.13. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $150.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 1,479 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.18 per share, with a total value of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,120.24. The trade was a 10.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.