Advisory Services Network LLC Sells 2,134 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Advisory Services Network LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,134 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 200.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Celanese by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $38.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.34. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.29 and a fifty-two week high of $169.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of -2.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. Research analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp raised Celanese from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.89.

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.