GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 2,825 Shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 148.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,724 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,825 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,423,000 after buying an additional 27,681 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Celanese by 22.1% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 30,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,077,000 after acquiring an additional 5,599 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Celanese by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,203 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celanese during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $170,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celanese by 210.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE opened at $65.95 on Tuesday. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $65.50 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.10.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Celanese Co. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Celanese from $101.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Celanese from $100.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Celanese from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $138.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

About Celanese

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.