Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Access Financial Services Inc.

Access Financial Services Inc. trimmed its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,233 shares during the period. Celanese makes up about 0.8% of Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CE. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 3,431 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Celanese by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 37,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the completion of 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. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.28.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock opened at $171.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.35. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $99.33 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.82.

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). 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.