Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth approximately $155,102,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Celanese by 9.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,835,000 after acquiring an additional 570,501 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 332.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 547,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,264,000 after acquiring an additional 421,200 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,354,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,845,000 after acquiring an additional 379,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,596,947,000 after purchasing an additional 323,862 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.22.

Celanese Trading Down 2.7 %

Celanese stock opened at $156.04 on Monday. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $157.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Celanese’s payout ratio is 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.