Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $509,000 Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 89.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 26,643 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Celanese by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 155,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,168,000 after buying an additional 36,701 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth $7,879,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Celanese by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 38,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 10,775 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 131,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,590,000 after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Celanese in the 3rd quarter worth $3,453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.69 per share, with a total value of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Celanese from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Celanese from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.56.

Celanese Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CE stock opened at $154.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $158.06 and its 200-day moving average is $144.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $99.33 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Celanese’s dividend 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.