Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Celanese by 128.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in Celanese by 3,933.3% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Celanese during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Down 0.9 %

CE stock opened at $124.81 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $114.05 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.91. The stock has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.24 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Celanese news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $193.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Vertical Research cut shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $160.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Celanese from $137.00 to $128.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.44.

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.