18,023 Shares in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Purchased by Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC

Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 30.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 21,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,709,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,430,000 after purchasing an additional 13,503 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Celanese by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 243,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 0.7% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Celanese from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Celanese from $77.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.31.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $54.10 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of -3.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $45.94 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.42.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -0.86%.

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.