Cwm LLC Sells 203 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Cwm LLC lessened its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese by 180.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Celanese by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $147.00 to $144.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Celanese in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.41.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CE opened at $137.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.77. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $105.15 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The stock has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.34.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a net margin of 18.60% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Celanese’s payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

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.