Trust Investment Advisors Makes New $204,000 Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Trust Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,102,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,340,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $795,835,000 after acquiring an additional 570,501 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 332.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 547,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,264,000 after acquiring an additional 421,200 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Celanese by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,354,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,845,000 after acquiring an additional 379,962 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Celanese by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,722,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,596,947,000 after acquiring an additional 323,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock traded up $0.13 on Thursday, reaching $154.62. 407,668 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 721,416. The firm has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. 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 $157.84 and its 200-day moving average is $143.56. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $99.33 and a one year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.05). The company 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%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target 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. Bank of America lowered shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.22.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,987,888.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray acquired 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Celanese 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.