Menard Financial Group LLC Sells 217 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Menard Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,663,000 after acquiring an additional 150,201 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Celanese by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,085,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $146,426,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $134,723,000 after purchasing an additional 69,606 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Celanese by 608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,754,000 after purchasing an additional 592,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 472,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,298,000 after buying an additional 28,901 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $72.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $71.38 and a 12-month high of $172.16.

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

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 28.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Celanese from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.59.

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.