CVA Family Office LLC Takes $68,000 Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,596,947,000 after purchasing an additional 323,862 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Celanese by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,774,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,559,000 after buying an additional 131,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $795,835,000 after buying an additional 570,501 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Celanese by 8.2% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 1.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,124,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,810,000 after acquiring an additional 27,670 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total value of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Celanese 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 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 corporate insiders.

Celanese Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE CE opened at $169.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $169.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.60.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on CE shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Celanese from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $135.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.28.

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.