Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Celanese by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 33,628 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,225,000 after buying an additional 8,510 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 42,274 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,568,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Celanese by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 979 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter worth $465,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.85, for a total transaction of $313,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,987,888.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas Francis Kelly acquired 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.69 per share, for a total transaction of $219,366.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 57,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,934,933.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Celanese from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Celanese from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised Celanese from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Celanese from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $149.56.

Celanese Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE CE traded up $0.79 on Friday, reaching $157.17. The stock had a trading volume of 449,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,447. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $159.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Celanese Co. has a 1 year low of $99.33 and a 1 year high of $172.16. The company has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.05). Celanese had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Celanese's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.64%.

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.