LPL Financial LLC Has $35.14 Million Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 528.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 260,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 219,095 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Celanese were worth $35,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CE. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 0.6% in the first quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 13,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Celanese by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Celanese by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in Celanese by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celanese Stock Performance

Shares of CE stock opened at $123.14 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $131.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.79. Celanese Co. has a one year low of $110.76 and a one year high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.13.

Insider Transactions at Celanese

In other news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,033,840.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.