Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 1,169 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,169 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,137,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $953,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,099 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,529,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,325,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,758 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Celanese by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,809,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,907,000 after acquiring an additional 468,003 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,077,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,031,776,000 after acquiring an additional 354,367 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,337,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,761,567,000 after buying an additional 329,740 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock traded up $1.75 on Wednesday, hitting $141.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 900,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 719,776. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $110.76 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $15.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $141.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. Celanese’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Celanese has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.75.

Celanese 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.