Matrix Trust Co Boosts Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 96.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Celanese were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 739.1% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares in the company, valued at $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $54.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $36.29 and a 1 year high of $150.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.18.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -0.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CE. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Celanese from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

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.