Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Purchased by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the third quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of Celanese in the third quarter worth $103,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $50.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.60. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.65, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $49.22 and a 1 year high of $172.16. 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 (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. Analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently -0.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Celanese from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Celanese from $75.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Celanese from $73.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Celanese from $88.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.31.

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.