Apollon Wealth Management LLC Invests $236,000 in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $795,835,000 after purchasing an additional 570,501 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,596,947,000 after acquiring an additional 323,862 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,022,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $379,343,000 after acquiring an additional 230,275 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 1,593.6% during the 3rd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 160,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,130,000 after purchasing an additional 150,901 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Celanese in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,879,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $159.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $160.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.85. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $100.79 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $1,814,588. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.22.

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.