Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $2.12 Million Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 92.6% in the 1st 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 period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the senior vice president now 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 can be accessed through this link. In other Celanese news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the company’s 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 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. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered 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 increased their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment 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 a consensus target price of $149.22.

Celanese Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CE stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $155.28. The company had a trading volume of 50,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,528. The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.84 and a 200 day moving average of $143.56. 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 firm has a market cap of $16.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $99.33 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Celanese’s payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

Celanese Company 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.