Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,135 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $587,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 6,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 106,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,018,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Celanese from $161.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.78.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $155.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $160.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $103.23 and a 1 year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.