Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Celanese Corporation $CE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 525,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,267 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $22,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 9,543 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 265.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 3.8% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 21,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Celanese by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 37,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 235.5% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 28,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 19,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Celanese in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Celanese from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Celanese in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $75.00 to $45.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, CFO Chuck Kyrish bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.03 per share, with a total value of $205,150.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 10,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $447,801.42. The trade was a 84.55% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 5.7%

CE stock opened at $55.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of -1.95 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.63. Celanese Corporation has a one year low of $35.13 and a one year high of $70.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.01.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 31.85% and a positive return on equity of 9.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Celanese Corporation will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical and specialty materials company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products serving diverse industries. The company operates through two primary business segments—Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain—offering solutions that range from high-performance polymers and specialty additives to industrial chemicals and intermediates. Its engineered materials are used in applications such as automotive components, consumer electronics, medical devices and packaging, while its acetyl derivatives find uses in coatings, adhesives, solvents and personal care products.

In the Engineered Materials segment, Celanese produces a variety of high-performance thermoplastics, polyether-block-amide (PEBA) elastomers and functional additives designed to enhance product durability, thermal resistance and sustainability.