Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,628 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in 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 buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Celanese by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Celanese in the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $160.10 on Thursday. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $99.33 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.43.

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). The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now 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 is available through this link. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CE. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America lowered Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.22.

About Celanese

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.