Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $6.62 Million Stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,056 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,629 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $6,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 3,431 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Celanese by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in Celanese by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Celanese by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its position in Celanese by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 37,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,374,000 after buying an additional 4,265 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the 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 acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CE shares. Piper Sandler raised Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.00.

Celanese Stock Up 1.0 %

CE stock opened at $166.30 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.33 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.65 and a 200-day moving average of $142.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.