GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $172,000 in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CE. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 83.7% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Celanese by 180.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Celanese by 142.1% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Celanese in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 51.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $154.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.36. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $158.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly 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). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Celanese

In other news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly purchased 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,934,933.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly bought 1,400 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at $8,934,933.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $313,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CE. Barclays cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Celanese from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.