Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $225,000 Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 88.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,792 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 83.7% in the 3rd 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. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CE shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Celanese from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.22.

Celanese Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $164.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.34 and its 200 day moving average is $142.00.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

About Celanese

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.