Signet Financial Management LLC Cuts Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Signet Financial Management LLC decreased its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Celanese by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 2.3% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 3.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Celanese by 92.6% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Celanese Stock Performance

Celanese stock opened at $155.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $157.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $99.33 and a 12 month high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 17.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.22.

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.