Yousif Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 64.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 8,398 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Celanese by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,168,000 after purchasing an additional 36,701 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Celanese during the third quarter worth about $7,879,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 39.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 10,775 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Celanese by 14.1% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 131,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,590,000 after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the period. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.56.

Celanese Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CE opened at $154.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.33 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $158.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.35. The firm has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

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

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.