Fox Run Management L.L.C. Invests $319,000 in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Celanese by 3.2% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group increased its holdings in Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Celanese by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CE shares. KeyCorp raised Celanese from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lowered their target price on Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Celanese from $110.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $92.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Celanese from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.67.

Celanese Price Performance

CE opened at $59.17 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.45 and a 200 day moving average of $85.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.25, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Celanese Co. has a 52-week low of $45.94 and a 52-week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 12.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently -0.86%.

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.