1,268 Shares in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) Acquired by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Celanese by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Celanese in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,560,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Celanese by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 310,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,196,000 after buying an additional 35,898 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Celanese by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,910,000 after buying an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Celanese by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE opened at $126.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $130.51 and its 200 day moving average is $144.94. Celanese Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $172.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.30.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Celanese Co. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Celanese from $167.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Celanese from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Celanese from $168.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Celanese currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Scott A. Richardson sold 4,675 shares of Celanese stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.51, for a total transaction of $605,459.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,033,840.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.