Peterson Wealth Services Reduces Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Peterson Wealth Services cut its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,799 shares during the quarter. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Celanese were worth $2,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,168,000 after acquiring an additional 36,701 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,879,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,812,000 after acquiring an additional 10,775 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 131,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,590,000 after acquiring an additional 16,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,453,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.22.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $154.96. The stock had a trading volume of 28,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,257. The business has a fifty day moving average of $157.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.56. The firm has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.33 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

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.