Cerity Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 6,120 Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $951,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 103 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 acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 51.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other 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 price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CE opened at $154.83 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 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.19.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CE. StockNews.com raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.