Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Takes Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Celanese in the second quarter worth $28,000. Key Financial Inc increased its position in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $68.63 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $163.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.56.

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.