CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 421 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Celanese were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Celanese by 92.6% in 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. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in Celanese during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Celanese by 83.7% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in Celanese by 180.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Celanese during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Up 1.0 %

CE stock opened at $166.30 on Wednesday. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $99.33 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted 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 net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.5 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Activity

In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CE. Barclays cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on Celanese from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.00.

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.