Cwm LLC Boosts Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Cwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 142.1% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 180.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 83.7% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Celanese in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Celanese by 51.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

Celanese Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of CE opened at $153.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $99.33 and a 12 month high of $172.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $158.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.85. The firm has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

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.