Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA lessened its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Celanese were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Celanese by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new position in Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in Celanese by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CE shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 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 this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Celanese Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE CE opened at $164.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $99.33 and a one year high of $172.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $156.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.00.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio 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.