Oak Thistle LLC Makes New Investment in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 16,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 8,142 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at $286,000. Matrix Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 1,186.2% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Celanese by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Celanese by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after buying an additional 8,269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE:CE opened at $71.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.60. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $64.05 and a 1-year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Celanese Co. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CE shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Celanese presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

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.