Calamos Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 901 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Celanese worth $10,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CE. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 3,431 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Celanese by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 37,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,588. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray bought 597 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.43 per share, with a total value of $93,388.71. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,588. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 76,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

CE stock opened at $154.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $99.33 and a 52 week high of $172.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $158.06 and its 200 day moving average is $143.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.57 billion for 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 prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CE. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America cut shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut shares of Celanese from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.56.

About Celanese

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.