Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 662 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $3,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CE. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Celanese during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 142.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Celanese by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Celanese in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 51.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE traded down $3.25 on Friday, hitting $131.51. 83,990 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 711,403. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.21. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $109.38 and a 52-week high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.17. Celanese had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.60%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 11.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CE. Barclays cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $135.00) on shares of Celanese in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Celanese from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Celanese from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Celanese from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.41.

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.