Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Takes $286,000 Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Celanese by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, 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 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.22.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $155.78 on Tuesday. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $99.33 and a 12 month high of $172.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.28.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. 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.