Greenleaf Trust Sells 118 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Greenleaf Trust reduced its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 142.1% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 83.7% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

CE stock opened at $154.45 on Monday. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.19.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CE shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lowered 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.