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

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,950 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 8,740 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Celanese were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CE. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in Celanese by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,618,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $942,506,000 after purchasing an additional 6,818,993 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Celanese by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,969,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $274,714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,025 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Celanese by 266.7% in the 4th quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,506,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $242,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550,334 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $222,815,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,679,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $184,998,000 after purchasing an additional 73,498 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of CE traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.40. 1,078,405 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,227,885. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's 50-day moving average is $47.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.06. Celanese Co. has a 12 month low of $36.29 and a 12 month high of $150.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 12.86% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Celanese's payout ratio is -0.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Vertical Research raised Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Celanese from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Celanese from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $46.00 to $55.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 price target on Celanese in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.94.

Insider Activity at Celanese

In other news, SVP Mark Christopher Murray purchased 1,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.18 per share, for a total transaction of $77,174.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 15,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,120.24. This trade represents a 10.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.