New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $1.74 Million Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 25,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,736,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group increased its holdings in Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Celanese by 200.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Down 1.9 %

CE stock opened at $57.14 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Celanese Co. has a 52 week low of $45.94 and a 52 week high of $172.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s payout ratio is -0.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CE. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Celanese from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Celanese from $102.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.94.

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.