Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Has $1.35 Million Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 66.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CE. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 83.7% in 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 last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 180.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Celanese during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 51.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following 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. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CE shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.56.

Celanese Price Performance

NYSE CE traded up $1.14 on Tuesday, reaching $156.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 474,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,997. The firm has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $158.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.43. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during 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%. Celanese’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.