Comerica Bank Sells 3,571 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Comerica Bank reduced its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,571 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Celanese were worth $9,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Celanese by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE traded down $4.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $136.81. 615,042 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 719,063. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a PE ratio of 7.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $141.32 and its 200 day moving average is $150.44. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $110.76 and a 52 week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CE. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.75.

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.