Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Grows Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. increased its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 66.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,455 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,596,947,000 after purchasing an additional 323,862 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after purchasing an additional 570,501 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,022,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $379,343,000 after purchasing an additional 230,275 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Celanese by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 902,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $113,235,000 after purchasing an additional 42,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 884,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,030,000 after purchasing an additional 13,149 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 0.7 %

CE traded up $1.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 474,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,997. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the purchase, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired 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 owns 11,600 shares in the company, 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

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

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.