Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 47.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,888 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 2.3% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 3.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 0.6% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 14,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were 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 approximately $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CE opened at $155.45 on Thursday. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $99.33 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $158.34 and a 200 day moving average of $144.68. The firm has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CE. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America cut shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently 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.