Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,153 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Celanese were worth $6,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Celanese Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:CE traded down $1.02 on Friday, hitting $129.04. 224,778 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,975. The stock has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.10 and a 200-day moving average of $147.86. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.76 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.13.

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.