15,498 Shares in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Acquired by Scientech Research LLC

Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 157.8% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $555,000. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Celanese in the fourth quarter worth $768,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 91.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,766,000 after acquiring an additional 60,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:CE opened at $53.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $36.29 and a 52 week high of $158.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.20. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CE shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Celanese from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Celanese from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.44.

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.