Edgestream Partners L.P. Has $2.17 Million Stock Holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lowered its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 60.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 24,743 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $2,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Key Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Celanese by 3,933.3% during the second quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese during the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

CE opened at $126.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $131.00 and a 200-day moving average of $145.24. The stock has a market cap of $13.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. Celanese’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total value of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.