M&T Bank Corp Sells 5,838 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 31.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,838 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Celanese by 46.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 60,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,565,000 after acquiring an additional 18,995 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Celanese during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 13,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 20,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,570,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of Celanese 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 acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Bank of America downgraded Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed 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. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.94.

Celanese Stock Down 1.1 %

Celanese stock opened at $161.46 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $99.33 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $160.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.45. 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 capitalization of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. 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.