Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Lowers Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lessened its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 128.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CE opened at $124.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.91. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $114.05 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CE. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $163.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.