Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Shares Sold by Dorsey Wright & Associates

Dorsey Wright & Associates cut its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 490 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Celanese were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Celanese by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 0.6% during the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 13,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Celanese by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE CE opened at $139.29 on Friday. Celanese Co. has a twelve month low of $110.76 and a twelve month high of $172.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.22.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.42 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s payout ratio is 15.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.