Cibc World Markets Corp Takes $1.20 Million Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,199,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 92.6% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 72.5% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 338.5% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company purchased a new position in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America began coverage on Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $146.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Celanese from $135.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Celanese from $146.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on Celanese from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.77.

Celanese Price Performance

Celanese stock opened at $107.38 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $86.71 and a 1 year high of $161.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.04. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 1.31.

Celanese (NYSE:CE – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 14.85%. Celanese’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 1st were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 28th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $101.69 per share, for a total transaction of $102,503.52. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,179,298.93. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Celanese

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Celanese Corp. engages in the provision of technology and specialty materials businesses. It operates through the following segments: Engineered Materials, Acetate Tow, Acetyl Chain and Other Activities. The Engineered Materials segment includes the engineered materials business, food ingredients business and certain strategic affiliates.