AIA Group Ltd Has $206,000 Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) by 52.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 498 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Celanese were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CE. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Celanese by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in Celanese by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 25,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,584,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in Celanese by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 4,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 93.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $110.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 1.22. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $104.74 and a 52 week high of $176.50.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $4.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $0.43. Celanese had a return on equity of 46.75% and a net margin of 20.55%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 25th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 22nd. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CE shares. StockNews.com lowered Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Celanese from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 13th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on shares of Celanese in a report on Monday, June 27th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.80.

Celanese Profile

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Celanese Corporation, a technology and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Engineered Materials, Acetate Tow, 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.