Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 149 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Procyon Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 37,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,751,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in Celanese by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,168,000 after purchasing an additional 36,701 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 111,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,354,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Celanese during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Celanese by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Celanese from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were bought at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Celanese news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.43 per share, for a total transaction of $93,388.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $170.39. 28,599 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,425. 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 capitalization of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.60. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $99.33 and a 12 month high of $171.38.

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

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s 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.